Broken Wings
by Ghostina
Summary: SEQUEL TO HIDDEN WINGS: Lucifer rose and took Earth as his Kingdom. Good isn't out yet; Dean & Rachel- a half angel- rally together humans, angels, and demons to stop Lucifer. All the while, Dean searches for his missing brother. Dean/Anna, Castiel/OC... This will not be "completed". I will put up an epilogue in the coming days that will say how the story would have ended...
1. C What Had Happened

**Disclaimer:** I own none of Supernatural, and the only thing I possess is Rachel.

**Author Note: **Welcome back to the sequel of _Hidden Wings_. A lot will be going on in this story, so I hope you all are up for the ride.

**Full Summary:** Lucifer is free and reigning the apocalypse down on Earth. This is not met without resistance as Dean, Heaven's chosen warrior, and Rachel, Lucifer's first-born daughter, fight back along with hunters, humans that remain, and Heaven's forces. Everything isn't that simple though; Dean and Rachel are desperately searching for Sam, who disappeared before Lucifer rose. Much awaits the Winchester clan as Lucifer needs to be stopped… but can they find a way to do it?

_**Arc 1:**__Sons of God, Daughters of Man_

**C. Chapter 1/Prologue**

Time.

Time passed, time was fluid, and time was so simple to lose track of. Months had passed since Lucifer had rose and taken Earth as his kingdom. People were fighting, a Rebellion as it was called, but we didn't have the forces like the devil did. He bribed many supernatural creatures to his side, and the hunters couldn't compete with those numbers. Sure we had a few demons on our side and angels too, but there were days when we all came home broken and bloody, that we knew it wasn't enough. As time passed, the more our hope seemed to die off.

Some of it had to do with Sam disappearing; things hadn't gotten better. Many hunters wanted to kill the younger Winchester, but the elder hunter, Dean, refused such things. He wasn't about to let anyone kill his brother- only he could, he said once. I took the words as truth and never questioned whether or not our leader would seriously be able to kill Sammy. I mean Dean and Sam were my cousins too. I guess when the day came, we would all see what would happen. For now, I could only hope that Sam wasn't dead or dark… even if all the other hunters accused such foolish things.

Time was truly insignificant at base, but for me, it was everything. My entire life was revolved around time- seconds, days, months. I lived by the days, and sometimes, I wished I could still see the sun. That would have been an easier way to keep track of time instead of some rusty old watch. Time right now was especially important.

After all, I only had minutes to collect as much food as possible before the Horsemen rushed inside this grocery store… Make that seconds- time was easy to lose track of.

I could hear the door being slammed against from where I stood, and I knew that the devils traps and charms wouldn't hold much longer. So instead of grabbing what I thought would be useful, I went to grabbing whatever was in front of me. This wasn't the time to be picky or choosey. Canned food was the only preference, and that was only because it actually lasted. The only thing I was sure to grab was an apple pie for Dean; he'd kill me if I forgot pie- Horsemen on my tail or not.

That's another thing that is so different now. At first the angels led the attacks against Lucifer, but one day, out in the battlefields, or the Wasteland as humans now call them, the leading angel was killed, and somehow, Dean just stepped up to the task. He took over the fight as if it was completely normal, and that day we pushed the demonic army to retreat- a rare victory. Since then, Dean called the shots on the battlefield, and everyone followed him without question- myself included. Actually, I had begun to train the Winchester in my fighting style- the one Gabriel taught me before going dark. He was almost up to two blades- his also having the ability to kill pretty much anything-, but it would still be awhile before he used them on the battlefield. Usually off the field, angels followed what we all liked to call were Dean's "suggestions." The elder Winchester was a great leader, and while he might have caused the apocalypse to pass, he was doing everything in his power to make sure he stopped it. Only Dean could, and everyone knew this. And I mean everyone. Humans, hunters, demons, angels, hybrids. We all knew that Dean's survival meant our survival, and since he started calling the shots, our odds actually went up in the war.

Dean hadn't ordered me out for a food run, but I knew something had to be done. We were low on supplies, and out of everyone, I was best to restock. Angels couldn't travel into these areas without being noticed, but Nephilims were common in enemy territory, so as long as no one recognized me, I could waltz right in. I didn't feel betrayed that my own kind sided with Lucy. He offered them protection when before all of this angels only offered death. Somewhere deep inside, it stung. My own kind was with Lucifer, I didn't belong with angels, and I didn't belong with humans either. The only thing I knew for sure was that I was a Winchester, and I belonged by Dean's side fighting until I took my last breath.

Obviously being a Nephilim didn't help me this time or I would not have been noticed by the Four Horsemen trying to break the door down. Still, this wasn't my first time in this rodeo, so I wasn't too freaked… yet.

"Why don't you try turning the handle?" I yelled enjoying taunting them though most likely, I'd pay for it later.

Next time, I decided to send a demon to do this. Thankfully, we had a few demons on our side fighting against Lucifer. They wanted redemption and decided they left Hell, and they didn't want it right back up on Earth. Still, demons weren't easily trusted as Ruby- Sam's little demon whore- could be a testament to that. The entire time she had been working against us when we were trying to keep seals from being broken. She wanted Lucifer to rise, and thanks to "her," Sam and I had helped to break the last one. She actually helped lead Zachariah and Uriel- both traitors and both dead- to us. In the end, the younger Winchester brother broke under Alistair's taunting. I'm not going much into that. That's why Sam is gone, but Dean and I were still looking for him. The angels sort of helped- like I said they were under Dean's command, and while it wasn't technically an "order," the angels kept an ear for the missing Winchester.

Demons weren't the only traitors in the pack either. We had angels go south a few times, and that made the tension between hunters and the celestials beings tight. While the hunters trusted some angels, not all were highly regarded. Our bases were out in the Wastelands shielded from demons and now angels- since there were traitors in that group as well. If the doors to any of our bases were to open, a human had to be the one to do it. Devils traps and angel traps were littered by the door. Dean and I decided to do that after one angel went rogue and led a demonic army to one of the bases we were currently at. Roughly ten were killed from our side, and thanks to this "angelic" bastard, Dean walked away with two slashes across his left eye that ran to middle cheek. He didn't lose his sight thankfully, but the scar was a painful reminder of who we could and couldn't trust. Hell, humans had even gone dark on us. Ex-hunters, now called Benders- some inside joke Dean had apparently-, hunted the hunters literally. These humans were spared demonic possession and death if they would hunt their own kind. These were the worst rogues as Dean and I had more apprehension to kill them. Benders were humans- not demons, not angels- just humans. The commandment 'thou shall not kill' seemed to have been chucked as angels didn't scorn us when we came back from the field covered in human, not demon, blood. Dean and the rest of the Rebels did what had to be done to survive.

"Open this door!" I heard Plague snarl from the other side, and I shuddered at just the sound of his voice.

Out of the Four Horsemen- Death, Plague, Pestilence, and Famine-, I only shivered at the sight and sound of Plague. Back before my Dad took power off this planet- did I forget to mention I was Lucifer's first-born daughter? Well, yeah, I am that too… A Winchester and Lucifer's daughter thanks to John's sister being my mother- an angel actually as well… a Fallen- whatever. I had a fraternal twin brother (Ryan, who was now a demon thanks to Lucifer by the way) as well, and it was because of him I was born Nephilim and not an angel… Anyway, back before my Father took power, Plague… well, Plague… he raped me. I had been under Alistair's lovely care, and the Horseman decided to show me some more hospitality. Since that day…

As I grabbed the last remnants of bottle water, I chuckled to myself. Back to the time concept again. For me, it was the only thing that really remained constant in my life next to Dean. He might as well have been my brother, and the only other two I thought I truly could rely on was Suriel (Anna being her _real _name if you ask me) and Cas. Both angels that had been so distant at first, but now Dean and I trusted them to have our backs. And well, Suriel also had Dean's bed. Cas actually shared mine, but ever since Lucifer took Earth, time had changed us. Damn that time. He shared my bed, and I use to think my heart; however, that wasn't how it was anymore. The angel had returned to his distant ways offering small words of comfort where hugs and touches would do better. He might have shared my bed, but that was all he did now.

"Try jiggling the handle now!" I shouted back closing the bag I carried with a single swipe of the zipper. "If that doesn't work, I guess you could just blow it off the hinges." I knew I was asking for trouble by meddling like this, but sarcasm was my best weapon.

The door behind me gave a whining creak as more weight was pushed upon it from the outside. My mind was too far gone in the pasts of time to realize it though.

"I'll enjoy hearing your screams!" Death called back.

I was only thinking of the coldness Cas had given me, and the comfort Alt-Castiel (which was his new name to make things easier for everyone) had brought. Other dimensions existed. At one point, Dean, Sam, and I traveled to a dimension where Lucifer ruled with a demon version of Dean and Sam, and a dark version of me. I had met an alternate Castiel whose pain now matched my own, and he was the one there to help me after what Plague did, not my Cas. I think that's what hurts the most when I'm in my bed at night. There might be a warm body next to me, but it has a cold soul because Cas is so afraid to fall. I don't blame him- to be human, it sucks. But, I just wished he'd stop pretending. I knew somewhere he loved me, but he just loved being an angel more. That's what really hurt. The only reason he was next to me even at night- when he wasn't busy following the garrison's orders- was because of the son I was carrying. Christopher Ryan Winchester was an entirely new hybrid- angel and Nephilim. He was Cas's son, and Chris was why Cas spent the nights with me. That would probably change though soon enough once the boy was born. After all, time flies.

Six months have passed since Lucifer rose. I was now eight month's pregnant with a child that would be born with wings… And with that last fleeting thought, the door broke down and the Horsemen came charging in.

**Chapter 2 preview:** Rachel is outnumbered and outgunned, but that doesn't mean she's going to lay down either. Faced against the Horsemen, the Nephilim races to lose them in the Wasteland, so she can return to her friends at base.

**OOC:** I want to thank Sock-Thief-Bandit for the suggestion of the title. This is more of the prologue that catches everything up. The next chapter will be diving right into action. From now on, the alternate versions of any angel will have an Alt in front of their names. Dark Dean, Sam, and Rachel will still be referred to as Deano, Samuel, and Rach. Those curious about the darker halves- Darkened Wings- is also in progress which details their lives.


	2. C Life Goes On

**C. Chapter 2**

"Little far from the nest aren't you?" Plague teased stopping a few feet away from me. I knew that I was pretty much trapped, so I had to stall the Horsemen from attacking until I had a plan myself.

"Had to stretch my wings," I replied trying to keep a calm façade. Truthfully, I didn't think it was working. Just being near this monstrosity gave me goose-bumps.

The other three Horsemen aligned themselves in front of the only real exit to the grocery store. Plague stood directly in front of me with Death to the right, Pestilence to the left, and Famine was moving to get behind me. In turn, I adjusted my stance, threw the food containing bag over my shoulder, and drew both of my short blades. Per usual if I was going down, I was going down fighting. My eyes flickered from one enemy to the next, but they were standing casually acting like I was nothing more than a pest that could be eliminated at any time.

"So how have you all been?" I sarcastically quipped. My best bet in this fight was to anger the Horsemen into attacking and looking for an opening to get out. The only response I received was a smirk from each of them. "Cat got your tongue today?"

"Your Father wishes to see you," Death grinned sauntering closer, but I kept the distance by backing away.

"My Father is dead," I growled. Lucifer might have been my Father by blood, but it was Christopher Moore that raised me.

"Not a very nice thing to say," Plague chuckled also closing the distance. "He really just wants to meet his grandchild."

I wanted to sigh; this again? Although eight months along, my stomach was only a small bump- thankfully. Over the last two months though any time I was out, demons would taunt me and tell me that Lucy "desperately" wanted to meet his grandson. I knew this was only because Christopher Ryan Winchester- as I decided to call my son- was going to be an entirely new hybrid. He was the result of Cas and I… well, you know… An angel and a Nephilim was completely unheard of, so I wasn't too shocked when demons started trying to capture me instead of killing me.

"I'm not up to any visits any time soon," I shrugged looking desperately for an exit. If I had known the Horsemen would be the ones to hunt me down here, I probably would have stayed home. Demons were easy to take care of, Nephilim simple- though I did hate hurting my own kind, even angels were better, but the Horsemen were hard. They, after all, had never been defeated in real combat, so I knew I was in real deep shit.

The Four launched themselves at me in perfect synch and had I not been part angel, they probably would have had me right then. My quicker reflexes, though, allowed me to duck and slide under the majority of the attack. Rolling onto my knees, I made to run, but a cold hand tightened around my ankle causing me to tumble onto my side- a small yelp of surprise following. Still, I wasn't some weakling- for God's sake, I had been trained by an archangel to fight-, so rather quickly, I spun onto my back and nailed my other foot right into Pestilence's face. Then, I used my own weight to throw myself back to my feet. Armed with Lucifer's grace, I would be able to fight them off- I had been able to kill Lylith with it-, so I could take the Horsemen. At least, this was what I was telling myself.

"You can't take all four of us," Death hissed rounding on me again.

"For once, I think I actually agree," I nodded before doing the one thing that made sense in a situation like this- I turned and fled.

Outside the store, it was like a nuclear bomb went off. The sky was an ashen red, and there was no longer any such thing as grass. Rocks and dirt covered broken roads that led to demolished buildings. Any people on the streets were walking as if this was nothing, but that was because they were demons. All their blackened eyes turned to me, but as I said before, demons were easy. Without paying them any heed, I bolted down the cracked pavement looking for my real escape. Behind me, I heard the thunderous sounds of hooves beating against the pavement.

Finally, I saw what I had been running towards. My black crotch rocket was leaning innocently against some alley wall, and without another thought, I jumped onto the seat and started my precious bike. The Horsemen were getting closer, but I knew they wouldn't risk killing me yet, so I had time. Time was exactly what I needed right now. Before the Death and her little group had the chance to snatch me from my bike, I zoomed off down the street. Demons jumped from my path as I didn't even care if I hit one; all I wanted to do right now was lose these four and get home.

Around me, the dry air filled with sulfur whipped my shortened hair. I had to cut it to make fights easier, so now I felt that I looked more boyish then my former self. I lowered myself farther into the seat and twisted the throttle all the way. Speed was becoming a factor whether or not I got away. Still, the hooves were strengthening behind me- damn supernatural horses. I might make it from the small city of Hell, Michigan, and if I could do that, I'd be able to lose my pursuers in the woods nearby. I wanted to laugh at the irony- I had been to Hell and was on my way back. Earth was Hell right now, but the fact I was in a town named after the very place just baffled me and made me laugh.

I felt that I had made it; the end of the town was in sight. Apparently, I had thought too soon. Just as I was about to be free of Hell, a truck flew into my path- probably thanks to one of the Horsemen. I wouldn't have time to stop my bike, so without much other choice, I let my bike go and jumped into the air. My wings erupted in all their black beauty as my bike crashed right into the truck. The pain was almost immediate- ran from the tips of my wings right into my shoulder blades. I hissed and landed on one knee. My wings had been broken roughly six months ago by Gabriel- damn traitorous bitch-, and I had been told to not fly for at least a year. I should have expected the pain.

"No where to go," I heard Plague cackle behind me. At that moment, the only thought besides my pain was- _fuck this_.

Standing to face my tormentors, I grinned wickedly and started to re-reach for my twin blades attached to my back with sheaths. The Horsemen were perched up on their horses staring down on me as if I was some piece of meat. Around me whispers from demons broke out.

"Isn't that Rachel?" one would ask.

"A Winchester," another would growl.

"The half-breed," a third would chorus, but I only had eyes for the four in front of me.

"Rachel don't make this harder than it has to be," Death sighed dismounting, but that was exactly what I was hoping for.

Although it would hurt, I used my form of fast flying- blinking as Dean called it because you there one second and be in a complete different place in a blink of the eye-, and appeared by Death's horses legs. With a single slash of both blades, I cut near the knee of the horse, and it screeched in pain. The black horse reared up while I turned and stabbed Pestilence's horse. The owners were yelling in anguish and shock. I put that aside in a mental note for now before blinking back towards the truck. Pain radiated throughout my body- not so bad anymore though.

"I'm not one for the easy way," I frowned flipping my blades back into their sheaths effortlessly. Again, I chose to run, but of course, being alive was much better than being dead. The Horsemen would be furious that I attacked their animals, but I had lamed two, so they would not be able to follow me as swiftly as before. I ignored the pain and took to the air, my wings spreading wide across the sky. Unlike most places, my home base was protected from angels just appearing- we had to actually use the front door. First though, I had to get there, and it would be a long flight.

Our base was near Indianapolis, and to any outsider, it couldn't even be seen. A hunter's child had remarked that it reminded him of Megaton from some game called Fallout 3- whatever the Hell that was. Four iron walls surrounded the small civilization along with charms, devil's traps, angel traps, and the works. Nothing could get in without someone inside allowing it. We had an alarm system for attacks, and actually, it really wasn't that bad of a place to reside. Sure the smell was bad, but we had running water- cold as it might be-, and we had food. The bag was adding extra weight by the way, but I ignored it and flapped harder.

Eventually, the sound of hooves faded away, and my only company was the lightning that began to streak the sky. Suddenly, I felt like taking on the Horsemen instead of dodging bolts. Acid rain poured from the sky, and I took to flying higher to avoid the sting. I could only image my greeting when I got back to base…

Yeah, it was exactly how I envisioned it. After hours of ignoring my cramping wings, I finally landed soundlessly outside the four high iron walls. The gate sitting directly in front of me; it only took a few lashes of my grace to make someone realize that someone was knocking.

"I'm tired, I'm pissy," I growled. "Let me in!"

Thankfully, the door-man seemed to get the point, and I was allowed in without much delay. The second I walked inside all the grimy hunters, demons, and angels moving around froze and stared at me. I should have expected this as well, and I could only sigh as most of the ones staring started to yell for Dean.

Pulling my wings in, I waltzed through the small gathering towards my approaching cousin. He looked rather relieved if you ask me. When we were finally close enough, I couldn't help but give my cousin a hug.

"You're alright," Dean sighed pulling away to notice the few cuts and bruises I had gotten from the Horsemen.

"Sorry," I mumbled already knowing that disappearing for three weeks probably hadn't been the best idea. "The Horsemen were deciding that follow the leader was a cool idea. I had to lose them before getting back."

"Where'd your bike go?" Dean asked looking around.

I frowned, "Why do you think I lost the four idiots so easily? I flew here after they destroyed my bike." My bike had been to me what the Impala was to Dean.

"You shouldn't be flying," Anna scolded suddenly joining the little gathering. Everyone else had returned to the daily ins and outs of running this base. "I'm going to have to look at your wings now." I sighed; I loved Anna, I really did, but sometimes, she obsessed over Dean and my injuries. Of all angels Dean had to choose, the angel of repentance and healing had to be the one…

"I'm fine," I shrugged. "Sore but fine…" I couldn't help but sheepishly glance around. "Have you seen Cas?" I really wanted to talk with the angel; my due date was approaching fast, and we had to talk.

"No, he's out on a mission," Dean explained leading me to a nearby house. "Him, Bobby, and a few others went out on a scouting mission a week ago. They shouldn't be back for roughly two more days." The elder hunter suddenly spun on me; his eyes narrowing. "Which reminds me, you're on bed rest. No more flying around for you."

"Dean!" I cried exasperated watching my cousin walk away. "You seriously can't put me on bed rest."

Anna laughed, "I think he just did."

"Go to Hell," I hissed.

"Aren't we all already there?" Dean called back.

"Actually I just got back," I joked jogging to catch up and join him at the table. I tossed the large bag of food down. "This should last this base another two months as long as we continue rationing."

Our "devoted" leader sighed and ran a weary hand through his locks. Anna took to standing behind him and started to massage his probably sore shoulders. They started to whisper back n' forth, but I started to count ceiling tiles.

"Probably more like four," Anna eventually said, and I snapped my head to look at her.

"Cas went out a week after you did and retrieved food for this base," Dean frowned.

"Perfect, fucking perfect," I growled. I had just risked my neck for nothing.

"Couldn't reach you," Anna continued.

"No cell phone coverage," Dean attempted lightly, but it was useless. These last few months had been wearing on all of us.

"I hear the kids outside have just started a baseball game," I said with my usual monotone- something I had picked up from Cas. My sarcasm, like Dean's, had slowly waned away at home. Against enemies, we had it still, but at home, we just didn't have the energy to be ourselves. "I'll head out and pitch. I think they'd like that."

Leaving the happy couple, I made my way outside miserably. The ten and eleven year olds were elated to see me, and I did what I had come to do for them over the last few months- I pitched. These kids, I felt bad for them. Everyone here was trained to fight, and even I had started to train the kids. Dean, also, worked with me; I taught him better blade skills, and eventually, I wanted to teach him to fight with two blades like myself.

"Swing batter, batter, swing!" a few kids chorused as I drilled the ball past the kid. I usually didn't pitch hard, but sometimes, I impressed the kids with my extra strength. I loved kids.

"Hey Rachel!" I heard my name just as I threw a ball which the kid hit right into my head. "Rachel!" the voice called when I stumbled from the unexpected force.

The kids rushed over to me, but I was already laughing and telling the kid 'nice shot.' I looked over to who had called my name, and there was the Alt-Castiel. I wasn't entirely sure what he was doing here; to my knowledge, we weren't suppose to have any alternate dimension meeting for a little bit longer. Sure we used our counterparts' help, but we also tried to keep them out of it as much as possible.

"Nice fast ball," the angel joked tossing the baseball to one of the children.

"You should see my wicked curve," I grinned, my mood instantly going up. I waved to the players before leaving the homemade field to speak with the trench coat wearing angel. "What are you doing here? I thought the two dimensions weren't meeting up for another week?"

"We're not," the Alt-Castiel shrugged. "But Gabriel heard that you had been missing for a few weeks, and when she heard you had returned, she sent me over to be sure." The name Gabriel made me want to snarl, but I also knew I couldn't hold her accountable for her counterpart's decisions.

"As you can see," I shrugged. "One hundred percent fine."

"Hey!" Dean said appearing disheveled from his small house and making his way over. "When'd you fly over here?"

"A few seconds ago," the angel answered. "I was just checking on Rachel."

"Now if we could only keep Rachel _in check_," Dean grinned shoving me lightly.

"Ass," I snapped. A sudden light headedness took over, but I ignored it and kept talking. Anna was just walking out tying her hair back when I heard one of the kid's shout.

"Hey look!" he was laughing. "Rachel wet her pants."

"Wait, what?" I said glancing down, and there was a rather large wet spot forming on my jeans.

"Rachel?" the angel mumbled.

"Don't tell me…" Dean started, but I felt like someone just punched me in the stomach.

"My water just broke," I whispered. "Can someone go get me a doctor?"

**Chapter 3 preview:** Rachel is finally giving birth to her little boy- a few weeks early though. Cas is nowhere to be found, and things, of course, are never easy for the Nephilim. Complications arise when the base comes under attack, and new visitors appear making things even more confusing for the Winchester clan.

**OOC:** Darkened Wings will be updated next, but I'll be gone for a few days… But Review on your way out! Reviews equal faster updates!!!


	3. C What the Future Holds

**C. Chapter 3**

For a moment, I was able to linger and recognize that I was about to go into labor, but that moment passed as a fierce pain struck my abdomen. Almost immediately, I curled in on myself trying to relief the pain, moaning as I did. Dean and Anna were quick to try and help carry me from the dirt field while onlookers gathered. Alt-Castiel was not far behind- I would bet his was more out of curiosity and concern. We were friends after all.

"No angels," I whispered to Dean as he helped me into a nearby house. "I don't want any doctors possessed by the birds." He helped me to lay on the couch as I clutched helplessly at my stomach. "Humans, just humans…" I hissed as another stabbing pain struck, and I couldn't help but think if this was labor then I'd take Lucifer on any day before this.

"Alright," Dean nodded with a frown. "I'll look for a normal doctor." Without another word besides a quick glance to Anna, the Winchester blazed from the room. Anna was kneeling by my side handing me a wet washcloth.

"This is going to hurt huh?" I joked, trying to ignore the pain.

"I could leave if you want," she sighed. "If you only want humans…" Before the angel could leave, I seized her wrist.

Laughing through the pain, I said, "You can stay… You're more like family than an annoying bird." I wasn't looking at the angel that once had orders to protect me, but I could tell she was smiling. "Plus, I can trust you to keep other angels out for a bit." While carrying, I always feared when I would go into labor because I wasn't sure how the angels were going to react with a Nephilim/Angel hybrid. I still didn't know what the child would be, but I was soon enough going to find out.

"So you're water just broke," a female announced walking around the couch to see me. She looked rather annoyed at my current laying situation. "You need to be laying at least on a bed," she sighed.

"Doctor?" I hissed trying to ignore the fading pain in my abdomen.

"Yes," she smiled before quickly ordering Anna and the reappearing Dean to help me to the nearby bed. Once I was comfortably laying, she explained I would need to be stripped of my jeans, and that a sheet would be placed over me.

"Dean," I said rather exasperated.

"Yeah I'm leaving," he frowned before bolting out the door.

**. . . . .**

Dean understood why Rachel didn't want him in there; it would be rather awkward. So, he decided while she was going through labor- which he heard from the doctor that it could last up to twenty-four hours- he would hunt down the damn angel that knocked her up. Cas was out doing a recon mission with Bobby and another angel and hunter. If he remembered right, Jophiel was the angel he was out with, and thankfully, the hunter was Ellen Harvelle. He knew that she could take anyone in a fight if anything bad had happened. She had a temper to match the brutal punch she could deliver.

All around Dean, he heard kids and hunters yelling over their calls of greetings. He tried to block them out as he searched for a viable vehicle. As much as he would love to take out the Impala, the car just brought too much unwanted attention. The Winchester knew he was going into enemy territory, and as such, he had to keep his head down. The last thing he needed was to bring an attack onto himself and perhaps the base… that would be really bad with Rachel in the middle of delivering a kid.

Grabbing an nearby bike, Dean sighed inwardly. The bike obviously had a really good muffler on it, and the vehicles had great maneuverability, but he still missed the Impala which was parked nearby.

"Dad!" a boy screamed while suddenly becoming attached to Dean's leg. He glanced down to see Ben giving him a small hug. "Where are you off to now?"

"I gotta fetch a few birds," he grinned ruffling the kid's hair. Although Lisa had said Ben was not his, Dean still believed deep down that the kid was truly his, and after Lisa was killed, the Winchester had made it his mission to make sure nothing bad besides what already had occurred happen to the kid.

"Coming back right?" Ben asked with a grin.

"When don't I," he shrugged before getting on the bike and revving it. "Should be back before the end of the day."

"I'll hold you to that," the kid nodded before running back to play with the other kids.

Dean shook his head absently before riding to the gates, giving a small wave to the sentry, and heading out into the Wasteland. His salt round filled shotgun was strapped to his back, a demon killing knife was on his belt, and he had holy water on the bike as well. If he traveled into the Wasteland, he traveled well prepared.

Things would be so much easier if Dean could just call Cas, but that also ran the risk of bringing unwanted parties around. Sadly, this left the hunter with the only option of tracking the recon party down which wouldn't be too hard as Dean was the one who sent them out, and he had a pretty good idea where the four would be. If he remembered right, he had sent them to a nearby enemy camp. A few demons had congregated there, and he had sent the four out in hopes of making sure that the demons weren't there to find their base.

Speed wasn't a problem in the wasteland. Although rocky and torn, Dean had no problem maneuvering around the obstacles. He was heading for the nearby woods, or what had once been the woods. All that was left were tall wooden dead trees that no longer sprouted leaves. There was no green really left on Earth except for what was left in human bases. There were many scattered about, and every so often, demons did find them and destroy the base and everyone in it. Dean wanted to be sure that these demons weren't around to find him.

He wasn't a fool. He knew since Lucifer rose that numerous assassins had been sent after him, and each and every time, the Winchester found a way to survive another day. Others had lost their lives for him, and he had promised himself that they their sacrifice wouldn't be in vain.

**. . . . .**

"Hurts that bad?" Anna asked as I tried to hold in another whimper of pain.

"No I'm faking," I hissed tossing my head back as the contraction hit harder. "I just want to scare anyone else from having a kid." The doctor was checking under the sheet and noting my progress.

"You're coming along quite quickly," she noted. A few others stood around- all human- helping in whatever ways they could.

"You do realize I'm a Nephilim and the father was an angel?" I asked making sure the doctor knew exactly what she had just gotten herself into.

"I've heard the rumors," one of the volunteers whispered absently. "But I must say I never did believe them… I didn't think it was possible for an angel that has not fallen…" she trailed off.

"Apparently it is," I growled out grasping Anna's hand as the contraction died down. "I would know…"

"Well then," the doctor shrugged. "I guess we should be ready for anything… Tails, wings, horns," she joked.

"Wings yes," I nodded. "The rest no."

"Wait, wait, wait," one of the other humans helping interrupted. "This kids going to have wings?"

"From what I've seen on ultrasounds," I laughed from the bed. "Yep."

Labor was hard; it didn't need to be said twice. I only prayed that it would be over soon, and that this eight month nightmare of carrying a hybrid would come to an end. I wasn't a fool, and I could even tell without seeing them that angels were gathered by the door of the house. A few hunters were probably out there as well trying to figure out what the frenzie was about.

Just as Lucifer was expecting the child so were many angels. I couldn't say I didn't blame any of them. Angels when in all their "glory" should not have any ability to procreate, but somehow Cas found a way around such rules… and now I was in labor about to give birth to my first born son named for my human father and full blooded twin brother. While my human father was dead, Ryan was not- I was sure of this now. I never saw him directly, but in fights, I sometimes caught glimpses of him helping me to escape or pushing the enemy back.

My thoughts were interrupted by another painful contraction. I tossed my head back and gritted my teeth wondering how people do this three or four times. I couldn't help but also wonder if it hurt more for me because my child was suppose to be born with wings. I don't believe most humans have that problem during birth.

"You can do this," Anna soothed.

"Don't think I have much of a choice," I joked while glancing at the door sadly.

"He'll get here," she said with a nod. "No way, he would miss this." It didn't need to be said that I was hoping that Cas would walk through that door sometime soon.

**. . . . .**

Dean ditched the bike near the beginning of the forest. It was easier to walk then dodge all the trees on the bike, and plus, he preferred a more quiet entrance. He now had a pretty basic idea of where he was heading.

Smoke was circling overhead and leading the Winchester towards the camp. He tried not to think what the demons were most likely burning; just the idea made him shutter.

Still, he pressed on hoping for some signs of his friends. Dean heard a twig snap behind him, and before anyone could blink, the hunter spun to attack whoever was behind him. His fist was plunged directly into the face of Bobby Singer. Immediately, the Winchester backed off, fearing the man's wrath…

"You idjit!" Bobby snarled. "What was that for?"

"You snuck up on me," the Winchester boy defended.

"Technically, you snuck up on us," Ellen said appearing from her spot behind the tree. She glanced around, checking the area for anyone who might have heard the insignificant scuffle, but the woods were as eerily quiet as they were before.

"What are you doing out here?" Bobby shot into questions. "You're suppose to be back at base."

"Well a complication came up," he sighed with a shrug. "I need you guys to come back… like right now." His green eyes darted around looking for the other two that were suppose to be apart of this group. "Where is Cas and Jophiel?"

"Doing their 'holy' thing and checking the camp," Ellen answered crossing her arms across her chest. "What complication?"

Dean kept looking around hoping for the sound of wings. "Well," he started absently. "Rachel sort of went into labor."

"Sort of!?!" Ellen gasped trying to keep her voice down.

"Well is she or isn't she?" Bobby clarified.

"Rachel's water broke just before I came here," he explained. "I'm betting Lucifer has some plan to get the kid… Need you guys back now." He paused to think before adding, "Plus I think Rachel would appreciate Cas there."

"What does Rachel need me for?" Cas asked appearing out of nowhere. The hunters were use to this by now, so they just stood and waited for Jophiel to land. The young red-head stood close to the angel of Thursday, and although he didn't look menacing, Jophiel was just as powerful as Castiel.

"Yeah we're quite busy here," the other angel echoed. To Dean, right now, Jophiel was easier to speak to then Cas. Actually, the Winchester was rather annoyed with how the angel had been treating his cousin. He understood they were having problems ever since Gabriel died- she was the only one that really backed up the relationships between Cas and Rachel, and Dean and Anna. He got that Cas was freaked about falling, but it wasn't an excuse; plus the eldest realized something was off with his cousin as well, but he wasn't sure what it was yet.

"Well we need you back at base," the Winchester sighed not in the mood to order the angels from the field if need be.

"If it is not important," Cas began, "it would be a better use of time to at least allow myself and Jophiel to remain."

"No Dean is right," Ellen said. "We should get back… Lucifer will have something planned."

"I'm missing something," Jophiel said rather bluntly.

Exasperated, Dean almost shouted, "Rachel is in labor at this exact moment." The woods fell silent.

"Is she alright?" Cas eventually whispered out.

"Pissed is the better choice of words right now," the hunter explained. "Back to base?"

The angels sighed relentlessly but gave a quick nod. The other two hunters followed suit.

"Let's get out of here before the demons nearby realize we're right next to them…"

"Too late," a demon grinned appearing from the shadows of the woods. "Dean Winchester, it's so great to see you."

"I'd prefer to see him in pieces," a new demon growled. It wasn't long before the group of hunters and angels were surrounded by foes.

**. . . . . **

Meanwhile, I was enjoying the fruits of labor. Thankfully, I had become fully dilated and was able to begin the fun part of pushing. Anna was a great help, and it sort of stung that Cas wasn't here… I'd deal with him later; right now, my kid was getting my full attention.

"Anna get some water," the doctor ordered, but Anna stayed close, clutching my hand. "Please?" she pushed when the angel still didn't move.

"I'll be right back," the angel promised before rushing from the room.

"You're almost there," the doctor grinned, and before I could even contemplate what was going on, I was seized by the two 'helpers' and tied to the bed. A gag was pulled taut across my mouth keeping me from calling for help. I could still kick out, but that would be risking the health of Christopher.

I felt the pain increase again, and I was left without much option but to push. I cursed into the rag trying in vain to attack out with my grace, but the slow blood loss from labor was making it difficult to focus.

"I am really sorry about this," the doctor said, but I couldn't see her thanks to the sheet covering my lower half.

"Why do you want to hand him over to Lucifer?" I screamed against the gag wanting to at least know why the humans were going to betray us.

"Lucifer?" I heard one of the volunteers say from beside me, and at least, they had made out one word of my rant. "We aren't taking your child to Lucifer."

"We're going to kill him," the doctor said plainly. My heart froze in my chest, and I glanced to the door praying for Anna to return. "You're angel friend isn't coming back. She's sort of tied up at the moment. No angel can enter this house, and the doors are blocked to keep your cousin from barging in as well."

"Why?" I growled muffled.

"See," the other human sighed. "You don't know us yet."

"Here's the head," I heard the doctor coo.

"But your son becomes quite a problem for us later on," the human finished. "Don't worry, we aren't going to hurt you or your friends. We need you for now, but your son… We can't risk him growing up."

"He's quite a nuisance to our master," the other human sighed. "I'm sorry but we have our orders…"

"There we are," the doctor grinned standing up with a bloodied child in her hands. I could see the small tuff of brown hair, and I struggled to escape my binds to save my first born son. "Please don't fight," she frowned suddenly. "Those binds were made specially for you. There's no escape."

Around me, I suddenly realized I could hear shouts and banging against the door. Even Anna was screaming from somewhere within the house. I was on my own, and I just wanted to cry. My son was going to die, and I could only watch.

"I'm sorry," the doctor continued pulling a knife from her belt. "It has to be done." I watched in horror as she planned to plunge it into my crying son's chest, but something happened that shocked me to the core.

Out of nowhere, a man appeared silently. He snatched the woman's arm effortlessly. He was built rather well, a black shirt covering a well-defined body. He raised his hand, and the two other humans in the room slammed back against the wall. All the while, his other hand never left the woman's wrist. Effortlessly, he took the child and released the doctor who just collapsed to the ground unconscious. My mind had barely processed this when this unknown man released me and handed me my son.

"Christopher," I whispered looking over my son trying to ignore the fact I was just attacked, and he was almost killed. A splotch of brown hair, dazzling blue eyes, and a pair of silver wings. He was utterly perfect, and I had no idea what he was.

I looked up to see the unknown man staring down at the child while the door to the house finally was knocked in.

"Here!" the man called out, his voice gruff and low. I could see he had grace, but I was shocked to see that this new man was neither angel nor Nephilim. He was not a full angel as I could still sense his soul, but his grace… it was different than a Nephilim's.

A female rushed to this man's side. Her dirt blonde hair was tied up in a messy ponytail, and her green eyes focused on the man than to me. She was slightly younger than my savior.

"Rachel!" I heard Cas cry, and I couldn't help but think 'he shows up now?'

Finally, I looked at my son again and smiled. His blue eyes stared up at me, and I could sense his grace deep within him. He wasn't a full angel, but he wasn't… I stopped mid-thought. My eyes flew up to the unknown man, and his dazzling blue eyes stared back.

"Not possible," I whispered just as Dean and Cas were at my side along with the now freed Anna.

"Sorry we're late," Dean explained. "We were attacked…" he trailed off suddenly realizing there were two strangers in the room- the guy having just saved my butt, the female having just joined the group.

"Who are they?" Anna asked glancing up at the two unknown in the room.

"Christopher?" I asked, not to my child but to the fully grown man.

"Hi Mom, hi Dad," the adult, my savior, sheepishly smiled.

**Chapter 4:** Somehow, Christopher- fully grown- stands before his parents. He comes from the future hunting a fugitive. He tries to keep the future's secrets just that… But Rachel and Dean are completely blown away. Family lines are expanded.

**OOC:** Okay the update schedule as is:

_Broken Wings:_ Every Thursday

_Darkened Wings: _Every Sunday

Sorry for now it has to be only one update per story per week. I'm too swamped to do anymore right now, but don't worry, it'll change after awhile. It will be back to an update a day soon enough. Read and Review


	4. C Children of What's to Come

**C. Chapter 4**

The room fell silent, but that wasn't really shocking. In front of me was apparently my son- full grown-, yet he was laying in my arms barely a few minutes old. Two Christophers'? For a second, I wanted to think it was a joke; that this guy in front of me was pulling my leg, but my gut told me the truth. This man in front of me truly was my son. The only remaining question was why he was here.

"Is this possible?" Dean eventually mumbled breaking the eerie silence. His eyes were less locked on Chris and more on his female companion.

Green eyes, dirt blonde hair? This had to be Dean's daughter, but I couldn't sense grace. That didn't mean she wasn't a Nephilim; it might just mean she wasn't eighteen yet. I wouldn't be able to sense it until then just like the rest of the angels. Right now, the girl's eyes were avoiding looking at Dean and Anna.

Cas, who I just realized had his hand on my arm- the first time he's touched me in like a month-, answered Dean, "Completely. Time is fluid, and Rachel has the power to manipulate time…"

I interrupted, "With assistance I can."

"The child has grace, and he has the same," Anna explained looking from the baby to the adult.

"Which brings up the question," I remarked, "what is he?" I looked down to my quiet little baby boy. His blue eyes were staring up at me- it almost felt like he already knew what I was saying. His two little silver wings stretched out from his back, and he yawned. Anna was staring at the boy with a gentle smile.

"I can answer that," the adult Chris said stepping forward, but Dean still seemed unsure about the entire situation. A single glare from the Winchester kept the man at bay. The female with him stay rooted to her spot. "As some of you might know," he began mostly just motioning at the angels, "a Nephilim is a half-breed. They don't get their powers until they turn eighteen, and that is because their grace is a completely separate from their human soul. It's like having two different essences in one being…" He paused looking at the entire group. "I'm slightly different. My grace and soul are one in the same."

"That is not possible," Cas said.

"Look at me, look at my younger self," Christopher retorted. "Our grace is mixed with our soul. We are human _and_ angel at the same exact time."

Thankfully, the people in the room didn't say the word I expected to hear. I was a Nephilim as is, but my son… I knew the other angels would only think one word when they saw the baby or the full-grown Chris- abomination.

"Why are you here?" Cas said attempting to break the awkward silence that had followed Christopher's answer.

Before my older son could answer, the baby let out an ear-wrenching scream. To me, it didn't seem that bad, but for Bobby and Dean, they were covering their ears ready to fall to their knees. A few glass windows suddenly shattered, and I did the only thing I could think of doing in that moment- I fed him. He immediately quieted down, and I adjusted myself, so I wasn't exactly flashing anyone.

"Hey Cas," Dean said suddenly laughing, "the kid has your voice." I couldn't help but smile as well while the angel scowled.

Bobby glared before smacking Dean right upside the head. This really wasn't the time for his usual comments, but my smile still didn't go away. I couldn't help it- I was part Winchester too.

"Dean," even Christopher said with a chuckle. "Don't worry Mom, I'm told I was eventually a quiet baby."

I could only roll my eyes and try to get use to the feeling of a child in my arms. Although there was an older version of my son in the room, Cas's eyes- I could tell- were only on the baby. I couldn't see the emotion hidden in his blue orbs, but I knew somewhere deep down that he was proud to have a beautiful, healthy son. It was like the baby knew he suddenly had all the attention because he stopped feeding and just looked up with a smile. His wings were curled around his little body, and they stretched out as he yawned. I tried not to smile, but I knew even Dean was grinning.

"Focus," Christopher sighed.

"Let them have their moment," the unknown female said, speaking for the first time. Hearing her voice is what snapped me from my trance, and I looked over at the girl. She seemed sincere about letting us enjoy the child for at least a second, but I could see a hardness in her eyes- the type that only comes with being a hunter. I had a guess for her name then, so I tried.

"Mary right?" I asked looking up to see her shocked face though she was quick to hide it.

Bobby, Dean, and the angels looked to me. They probably were wondering where I had guessed such a name, but it ran in Winchester blood for us to rename children after our own parents. Dean and Sam being from Mary's grandparents, my own son from my father- it only made sense that Dean's daughter (I was almost a hundred percent sure that she was his) would be named after his mom.

"I knew bringing you would be a bad idea," Chris groaned pretty much confirming my current thoughts. "They know I exist since Mom is holding me. But…"

"Yeah, I know," Mary frowned, "I'm not even born yet."

"Mary?" Dean repeated.

"Yes," she smiled softly. "Hi Dad… It's funny seeing you like this."

"Well most parents don't meet their children before they are born," Anna said not able to take her eyes away from what was most likely her daughter. "Are you..?"

"Yes Mom," Mary said to Anna just to relieve her freaked face. I wouldn't blame Anna for being upset for the second.

"You're not eighteen yet are you?" I asked.

"A week," Mary sighed. "One week and I come into my powers… I must say, I'm a little freaked."

Well, at least I now knew that Dean lived long enough to have a daughter with Anna, but I wasn't sure how long that was away. I couldn't tell how old Chris was, so I couldn't compare how much younger Mary was. I knew they were trying to keep the future as much as a secret as possible. I didn't voice my concern that it was only Dean and my kid in front of us… My thoughts wandered to Sam- does this mean we never were able to find him?

I immediately criticized myself for such thoughts. Dean would never allow something like that to happen. Maybe Sam's was just too young, or perhaps Sam didn't frolic with angels like Dean and I had a tendency to do. Then so far only angels could manipulate time.

"Which is why she's clinging to me," Chris continued. "So she doesn't blow anything up when she does."

"No Nephilim has done that," I retorted with a frown.

"Yet," Chris corrected, and I glared. "Sorry Mom," he quickly said pulling his hands up in a sign of surrender.

"She already had that look," Mary laughed. "Told you, she had it perfected before you started causing your own trouble."

"I _perfected_ the stare on Cas," I joked trying to ignore the fact that this situation was a little weird.

"Sucks for you Dad," Chris grinned before suddenly straightening up and becoming serious. I saw the reason rather quickly- Michael had appeared. The angel was in an older man this time- probably mid-forties- but still foreboding all the same.

"Do I even want to know what's going on here?" Michael's voice boomed. It had been some time since I had seen Heaven's general, but I was pretty sure he didn't look happy. "Time ripples, windows breaking," he was huffing until he saw the little bundle in my arms. "Rachel, he's adorable!" Michael was suddenly at my side- the archangel was a sucker for babies (I'd be sure to remember that). "And he has silver wings!" The archangel gently took the child from my arms, who was already sleeping peacefully, and he was examining the wings. "Do they work?"

"Yes sir," Chris said, and his voice was so authoritative that I was almost caught off guard.

The archangel looked from the child to Chris. "I take it you're from the future."

"Yes."

"Can I ask you why?" Michael pressed- his gentle nature falling behind his warrior posture.

"One of our enemies decided that it was much easier to eliminate me this way," Chris answered, his left hand behind his back gripping his right wrist. Mary just stood next to Chris- stoic as well- but without the pose.

"Are you allowed to explain the details?" The archangel handed me back my baby before turning to face the futurees fully.

"Yes," Chris nodded. "Most of it, I can divulge as you will soon learn of it anyway." Without a word though, he turned and closed the door to the house we were all in. "But only a few can learn of this. Don't want the story spreading across the wasteland."

"Understandable," Cas nodded, and I felt like smacking the angel upside the head.

"Lucifer has a son," Chris finally said, but I don't think it had the effect he was looking for. We just sat there waiting for more. "He. Has. A. Son."

"We know," I replied, confusion written on my face. Cas had that cute tilt of his head, and now, I just wanted to kiss him- I blamed it on the hormones of having a kid. "My twin brother Ryan… but he's a demon right now."

"Are you sure about that Rachel?" Anna asked as I had never told anyone really about my brother being out.

"I've seen him on the field fighting," I said, but I didn't say whose side he was fighting for: us or Lucifer… because I was never one hundred percent sure.

"Xureth," Chris said, his own features etched in bewilderment.

"I don't have another brother," I retorted not liking where this conversation was going.

"Yes you do," Mary frowned. "A half-brother… Lylith's spawn before she was killed."

"A demon and a fallen?" Anna faltered. "That's even more impossible than a Nephilim and an angel."

"Well it happened," Chris sighed. "Xureth is obviously older than me, born right before you killed Lylith." I couldn't help but glance away. "This is why Lucifer wanted me so badly during this time… He had a son and a grandson." We waited for him to continue. "He wanted to name an heir because obviously Mom wasn't going to step up to that plate."

"Lucifer wanted to raise you as his heir?" I asked trying to understand what I was hearing.

"Only if he found me strong enough, but as you can see, he never got his hands on me. I had a lot of protection, but he didn't want to name Xureth as heir either. So pretty much right now, Xureth is trying to kill me to get the title of heir. Until Xureth kills me or I kill him, you… Mom… will hold the title of heir."

"This is still going on?" Dean frowned. "This fight for being Lucy's heir?"

"Obviously," Mary groaned. "He already has his own forces… angels, fallen, demons, and even humans that find him appealing."

"But he can't lead the entire demonic army unless I'm killed," Chris finished.

"So he sent people into the past to try?" I summed up.

"I believe he, himself, is also here." Chris looked suddenly stricken. "He won't care about time as much. He'll do anything to make sure that I don't become this," he motioned to his older body. "Because right now, he can't beat me."

Mary jabbed him in the shoulder, "You also have an entire garrison at your command. Killing you is sort of hard."

"You're in the angel ranks?" Michael said, but Chris only nodded.

"It's kind of hard to pretend I'm human," my son replied, and I felt pain suddenly. Sure I felt pain from the fact my son seemed upset by the fact he really didn't fit in anywhere, but I also felt pain in my abdomen.

I started to pant and couldn't help but lean forward handing little Chris to Dean as the pain increased, and then my entire lower body went numb. Only a soft whimper left my mouth, but both Anna and Cas heard it.

"Rachel?" Cas asked, worry etched in his face.

"I can't feel my legs," I whispered feeling faint.

"Mom?" Chris asked moving forward, but he stopped when his foot made a small splatter. Everyone glanced down, and apparently in the excitement of having a child, then the child coming from the future, no one thought to check me over after being attacked. There was a pool of blood forming on the ground.

"I think I need a doctor," I said leaning back.

Dean took one glance at Michael than Anna. "I got it!" Anna said flying from the room while Cas seemed rooted to the spot.

"Anna," I strained out, "a doctor that isn't going to kill me or Chris please?"

I heard a few chuckles while Dean grabbed a few towels looking to staunch the blood flow.

"Dean," I hissed, "if you try to put a towel down there, it won't be me just bleeding anymore." Cas seized the towel and moved to see if he could stop the blood. While the angels probably could heal me, with the war going on, a Nephilim dying wasn't exactly high on the list to save. Still, Michael looked three seconds away from helping.

"Let a doctor try first," I panted out, my body on the edge of unconsciousness.

"What is wrong with you people?" the new doctor cried probably shocked from the bodies on the floor, three angels in the room, a hybrid, two Nephilims (well one and half), and the floor covered in blood. I don't remember what happened next, but I'm sure Dean would have a word for it later…

**Chapter 5:** Rachel gets the chance to meet her half-brother Xureth who is exactly as crazy as he sounds

**OOC:** Sorry for the lateness of this. I got my wisdom teeth out, and then I started classes… I'll attempt to get back on schedule. Sorry again for the lateness- Review as usual


	5. C Things Change

**Author Note: **There isn't much I can say about some random update after 2 years. I found this file on my computer completed and decided to post it. I just finished up with my novel, so I might have time to continue this. I am currently writing the sixth chapter which should be done by the end of the weekend. We'll see where that takes us, us being whoever is left and interested.

Also, there came up a note of plagiarism on my first story. There is a mini-series called Fallen (I mention this in my first story). It's about a nephilim being the son of Lucifer. I did use that story line for inspiration, but that story is about a fight with Lucifer to redeem the Fallen. My story as you can tell dwells more on the Supernatural. I just liked the idea of Nephilim, which doesn't belong to that show, and after much thought, I decided to make my character the child of Lucifer. The difference here is Rachel is the child of two Fallen with a twin that dives into hell and fights with two brothers… which isn't a rip-off of Fallen. I felt I had to address this issue as I don't like to be accused of such things. If you still feel that my story is a rip-off, then that is your opinion, but I'd appreciate if you kept it to yourself. After all, I'm not making you read this story.

**C. Chapter 5**

The last thing I expected was to wake up to a room full of angels. For a moment, I thought myself to be dead, but then I saw the older version of my son less than two feet away. Christopher was staring at me with concern, and from a crib to my left, I could hear the cooing of baby Chris. I think it was safe to say my life was messed up.

"How long was I out?" I groaned, and almost immediately, I had a multitude of people next to me. Dean was kneeling next to me, Bobby near the head of the bed, Anna at my feet, and shockingly, Cas had walked over- baby Chris now in his arms. Christopher hung back, probably unsure of how to deal with the situation.

"A few hours," Michael answered kneeling next to me on my other side. "You bled out."

"The bad part of still being part human," I joked taking my son from Cas and silently thanking the angel. My baby son looked just as beautiful as he did a few hours ago; he was staring innocently up at me.

"Being human isn't too bad," the older Chris echoed. "Better than being something entirely unknown."

I glanced at the younger Chris to the older one, and I frowned slightly. I couldn't believe my son had been brought up in a world with still war- who knows if it was against Lucifer still but Xureth for sure. If I had my way, I would end this before any of it started.

"It's safe for the most part outside," Mary said walking inside, and I chanced a confused glance at Anna.

"We had a slight problem after you fell unconscious," the angel responded with a sad smile. "It's been taken care of."

"Yeah Rachel," Dean grinned. "Don't stress yourself. Just worry about the fact we have your son from two different time periods."

"And don't stress your head by over-thinking it… or thinking at all," I couldn't help but joke back. Somehow, I still was waiting for Sam to make these comments, but he just wasn't here- I knew Dean missed him a lot too.

"We don't have time for joking," Christopher snapped finally drawing attention to himself.

"I take it the nothing outside is actually something," I couldn't help but remark. Everyone did seem very… extremely… tense. I tightened my hold on my child wanting to do anything to keep him safe, and every instinct I had at the moment was screaming danger.

"It's…" Cas started before sighing.

"Xureth?" I asked thinking it had to be this unknown brother of mine. He had to know where this base was if he was from the future; there was no way this place had been kept hidden twenty plus years.

"Actually no," Dean said stepping closer to me. "We had a small riot which the angels were nice enough to calm."

"Riot?" I responded unsure of how to take such news. It was one thing to be fighting against a common enemy, but it was quite another to suddenly be fighting against one another.

"It's over with, so don't worry," Dean continued giving me a small smirk.

Christopher finally groaned and stepped into the circle surrounding me. "They rioted because of me, mother." I felt my eyes narrow as I focused in on the older version of my son; his words didn't make sense.

"The humans are uneasy with anything… not human. A child of an angel?" Mary started.

"Is even less liked," Christopher finished.

"I take it you know this…" I began not liking what I was hearing.

"Quite well," Christopher sighed. "There is a reason I decided to join Michael's ranks when I was of age instead of staying on Earth with my cousin."

My gaze hit the floor, and I suddenly felt horrible. Never once did I think what would happen to my son around humans. I always worried angels would hate him, but it never, ever crossed my mind that it would be the humans that would be unwelcoming. I thought I didn't belong, but apparently my own son belonged less. This was my entire fault.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

Christopher seemed to know exactly what I was talking about as he sat next to me with a sad smile. He was looking down on himself before he forced me to meet his gaze. Before I knew or could say anything, he wrapped his arms around me.

"I love you Mom," he said softly into my ear. "Don't ever be sorry for loving me. What happened isn't your fault."

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I felt as though he didn't get to say this often to me if ever. The way he held me was like years had passed since he had just seen me, and I almost felt as though he would never let go. He finally did pull away and stand up; Mary moved next to him, and I could see the comforting gaze she gave him… Suddenly, I just knew. Something happened when Christopher was young; either I was dead or gone…

I decided to quickly change the topic before I overthought the future. There was nothing I could do about it now but move on. "Any idea where Xureth is?"

"He could be anywhere as could his followers," Mary stated brushing her hair from her face.

"I don't like the thought of my child unprotected during this," I sighed looking at the young Chris who was sleeping silently.

Anna decided to finally speak up, "We could move him and hide him until this is taken care of."

I didn't like the sound of my son being away from me, and Bobby placed his hand reassuringly on my shoulder. My lip was burning from me biting into it, and it took one glance at Dean to calm my nerves. I could just tell he was thinking it was for the best, so reluctantly, I handed my only son over to Anna and Michael.

"Don't worry Rachel," Michael said with a small smile. "He will be safe." And with that, the arch-angel was gone leaving me in the room with Dean, Cas, Bobby, Anna, Christopher, and Mary.

"So what's the plan?" I asked glancing over at the two time travelers.

"Well this was the plan," Mary shrugged. "We really didn't think of it beyond this point." Just like her father.

"Yeah our plan really ended after keep Mom safe," Chris said trying to hide his smile.

"A good next step would be to find Xureth," Cas suggested earning himself a glare from the older Christopher. I could see the wary glance Mary was giving him as well, and I tried to ignore it. I really didn't need to dwell on what was going to happen.

"He's not stupid," Mary said interrupting the growing tension between Chris and Cas. "He wouldn't go to Lucifer right away as he's trying to prove himself," she continued at least calming some of the fears of a massive team up.

"So we go a'hunting?" Dean suggested with a slight shrug. "I'm sure you put us all out in the open, he'll show."

"And you will all die," Chris pointed out. "He's half angel, half demon."

"So what do we do? Sit on our asses?" Bobby asked.

"Yes," he snapped. "This is my mission."

"You do not have to travel alone," Cas said stepping up to his son, but Chris silenced him with one look.

"Chris," Mary whispered setting her hand on his arm. Their eyes met, and he breathed in deeply to calm himself.

"It would be better if I went alone," he explained. "I am more than capable of handling Xureth. You do not need to throw your lives needlessly at him."

"Need?" I shrugged.

"How about want to," Dean said. "You're our kids. We aren't letting you guys go on this fight alone."

Both Mary and Chris sighed this time and ran a hand across their faces. It was easy to tell this was not what they wanted, but it was hard to argue with a Winchester. Even Anna and Cas looked ready for a fight; after all, it had been quite some time since we fought against anything but Lucifer… even another son would be a nice change of pace. In any case, Xureth was someone we could at least beat.

Though it was almost painful and every muscle screamed, I forced myself to my feet against my better judgment. Cas looked ready to step in and stable me, but my son took that away from him by stepping up instead.

"Here Mom," Chris said wrapping his arm around my waist. "Let me help you." I felt this odd warmth fill me, and I just stared in shock as all my aches melted away. It was unbelievable to be healed to such a degree by something other than an angel.

"You're quite powerful," Cas said.

"Perhaps," he shrugged. "But I never think of it like that."

"Chris prefers to think of his powers as skills. He's not powerful, just helpful," Mary explained.

"Interesting way to look at things," Anna commented.

"When you're more angel than human, you have to have a different perspective on life," Chris admitted.

"So how should we do this?" I asked looking around at the quite massive group. "Obviously someone needs to stay here and man the fort."

"Bobby?" Dean asked casting his gaze back at the older man. Bobby didn't look thrilled about the prospects, but he grumpily mumbled his agreement.

"Don't get yerselves killed now," he grumbled moving past all of us outside.

"We should accompany," Cas said.

"No." It was a crisp reply from Chris, and I was almost taken back by the tone. Before I had thought my son was just short with Cas due to perhaps issues that had yet to come, but somehow, I could see it was much deeper than that. There was actual hatred there. Something happened… and it changed everything.

"What I'm sure Chris means to say," Mary sighed exasperated, "is that it would be better if you stay with your infant son. Xureth is skilled at killing angels. We would be safer without having to watch you as well."

Anna seemed to have sensed the tension as well and placed a hand on Cas's shoulder to keep any more conversation about who was going from erupting. She gave Mary a sad smile, and I knew that Anna was more than curious about the young girl in front of her. It wasn't everyday that you met your own child before you had it.

"We shall leave you four to it then," Anna said trying to hide her disappointment. "Michael is sure to have something for us to do." Cas nodded and disappeared from the room first. I tried not to think of how his lack of presence was already saddening me. It shouldn't seeing how little I had seen of the angel since Lucy rose.

Anna moved over to Mary and touched her hair; the angel had a small smile now. Anna looked ready to cry to some degree, but instead, she leaned in and kissed her daughter's forehead.

"Am I a good Mom?" she asked. Out of every question someone could possibly ask about the future… this seemed like a pretty good one. I found myself smiling, and out of the corner of my eye, so was Dean.

"The best," Mary responded hugging Anna. "Don't worry Mom…" I realized the wording of the sentence was perfect to avoid saying if Anna was alive or dead; the sentence contained no 'are or were'.

Anna nodded and thanked her daughter before casting one longing look at Dean before flying off as well. Now it was just Dean, Mary, Chris, and I left. It was hard to avoid grilling the two about what was to come; however, we had a job to do.

"Any ideas where he might go?" Dean asked breaking the ice of the suddenly uncomfortable room.

"Anywhere," Chris answered truthfully. "He's going to look for my younger self, so it was good you sent him with Michael. He should be safe and out of bounds."

"Xureth is smart," Mary continued. "He's going to go someplace where he can keep an eye on you," she said referring to me. "He'll realize that eventually you'll want to go to your newborn son."

"And his followers?" Dead asked.

"They're probably everywhere," Chris sighed. "Advantage is that they are only human."

"So are these two," I reminded pointing to Mary and Dean. "Well one for the moment at least."

"We'll be careful," Mary growled probably not liking the idea of being left out. "I've worked with Chris numerous times on dangerous missions."

"La la la, I'm not hearing this," Dean scolded putting his fingers in his ears, and before I could help myself, I just burst out laughing.

"Let's just get out of this base to start," I suggested. "I'm sure Xureth followers won't let us out of their sight, so we'd be making it safer here."

"Point," Chris said. "But it is wise for you to travel Mom?"

"You healed my wounds," I pointed out. "I should be as good as new."

"As long as you don't fly," Dean reminded. My wing was still damaged, and healing it would do no good but perhaps mend it wrong.

I pouted at Dean but gave him a nod. I wasn't completely stupid… usually… most of the time. Dean and I left the house to let Mary and Chris speak while we gathered supplies. I was unsure how long we'd be gone, but we couldn't be too careful in a war-torn planet.

We remained silent as we put some food into bags along with any and all weapons we thought might be useful against demons. Even with my grace, we could easily get overwhelmed if caught alone, and God knows Lucy wanted us both badly on a platter.

I risked a glance over at my cousin to see his hardened gaze focusing on what he was doing, but there was pain hidden there. To see his daughter… I tried not to frown. I knew it wasn't just seeing his beautiful girl all grown up, but the fact no trace of Sam was around… and the fact our family would never be normal. It would have to be hard; after all, when didn't one of us pray for two seconds of being normal now.

"Did you see how much Chris dislikes Cas?" Dean whispered zipping his bag shut.

"I thought Cas was going to get his wings snapped," I sighed looking over to my cousin.

"Do you wonder what happened?"

"How can I not?" I shrugged throwing my bag over my shoulder as Dean did the same. "That doesn't mean I want to know."

Dean nodded completely understanding. Whatever happened to make Chris so upset with Cas, it wasn't something small. We walked out the door together and headed towards the front gate to meet up with our children… Children? What a strange thought still.

Chris and Mary were standing rather close together casting looks across the camp. It wasn't much of course; houses that were lucky to still stand and a steel wall welded around the entire camp with devils traps etched everywhere. The two looked rather out of place with their discomfort.

"Are you ready?" Chris asked, and I nodded.

"I have one thing I want to do real quick." I closed my eyes and asked for Michael to come back with my son. Michael didn't answer, but Anna did. She was holding my baby boy in a blue blanket and rocking him back and forth.

"Hi Mom," Mary said acknowledging the angel's presence with a small smile.

"Thank-you… I just wanted to see him one more time before who knows," I said taking Christopher from Anna. The baby was asleep snuggled in the blanket, and I couldn't keep the smile from my face.

"Hey there," Dean whispered stepping next to me and smiling down on the kid. "Don't worry kid, I'll make sure you grow up with lots of Metallica."

I shot a look over at my cousin, but I only sighed and shook my head. "Ignore him… He doesn't know the definition of an iPod yet." I handed the still sleeping child back to Anna. "Thank-you. Please protect him."

"I promise I will," she said, but she wasn't looking at me but at Mary.

"We should get going Mom," the older Chris said reminding me that he had been standing there the entire time.

"Yeah we should," I said adjusting my bag on my shoulder.

I wished I could give Mary and Anna some time, but Chris was pushing to get us to leave quickly. We said a swift good-bye and walked outside of the safe haven.

We had to put some distance between us and the base quickly. The last thing we needed was a demon to spot us out in the middle of nowhere and find a way to track back to the base. Sadly, we couldn't use a car either; it was too obvious, so we had to take a job into the nearby woods… if dying trees could be considered 'woods'.

"So how long do you think we can go before we find…" I started before I felt my body lurch and the entire world spun.

When it stopped, I wasn't in the woods anymore, and Chris, Mary, and Dean weren't even in sight. I was standing in some abandoned city, and I immediately pulled out my blades. I didn't see or sense any demons around, but I didn't just transport myself here.

"Hello Rachel," a voice called out from behind me. I spun quickly to face a young man. He was leaning casually against a car and his gray eyes were locked on me. Black locks tumbled over his forehead, and he looked far from frightful in a simple sweater and blue jeans. "I thought we could speak for a moment before all hell breaks loose…" he snorted at his own joke.

"I'm assuming you're this brother I have yet to meet," I said not really posing it as a question.

When Xureth smiled, it sent shivers down my spine. He had looked harmless, but with that smirk on his face, my fight-flight instincts were screaming in my head. I tightened my grip on my blades and tried not to look as off-balance as I was.

"You won't meet me for quite some time," he shrugged returning to his harmless looking state.

"What do you want?"

"To talk, to pose questions, to enjoy life while it's worth living," he shrugged. I felt as though I was talking to some philosophical teenager.

"I should kill you," I said like it was the most obvious thing. "You're after my son."

"My cousin," he pointed out. "It isn't anything personal. It's just family politics."

"I won't let you hurt him," I growled taking a step towards this abomination.

Unexpectedly, the entire temperature felt like it dropped. His eyes flashed to red and he was suddenly directly in front of me.

"You have yet to stop me in the future," he hissed. "What makes you think you can stop me now?" he grinned fully, and with a single blink, I found my body flung into a nearby building.

**Chapter 6 Preview:** Xureth and Rachel have a small tussle before Chris shows up to help… and only then does Rachel finally find out exactly what went wrong in the future…


	6. C The Truths

**Author Note:** Hey guys, I see some of you have already jumped on reviewing, and I'm thankful ;). Happy Birthday Krystal081!

Anyway, I had a review from a year ago pointing out the Horsemen difference (I didn't use War). I realized that after I wrote the chapter way back when, so I never changed it. Pestilence deals with "locust" in this story while Plague is more on the disease end. That way there is a difference.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this next chapter.

** 6**

"Well you pack quite a punch," I groaned pushing myself back to my feet. Xureth had returned to leaning against a car idly. He looked rather bored.

"I'm the perfect hybrid," he responded with a sigh. He was treating me like I was the younger sibling, but I wasn't about to let him get away with that. I glanced to the right to see my blades just lying on the ground, but I trained my gaze on my brother instead. I truly doubted my blades would be of any use to me at the moment. "Please sister, don't be like this," he said noticing my stance was one that a fighter would use.

"I won't let you hurt my son," I growled again.

"You. Don't. Have. A. Choice. In. This." Xureth stopped leaning against the car and forced his powers towards me, but I allowed my grace to flow freely even though it'd probably attract every demon within ten miles. I simply deflected the attack and stood my ground. "Your powers are unmatched compared to…"

I pushed a wave of my grace at my supposed brother and pushed him back a few feet. "I'm not even trying yet," I smirked, but Xureth actually just responded with a smile of his own.

"Who said I was either?" I didn't get the chance to block when I was again thrown back against the wall. "You are not strong enough to compete with me."

"Apparently, you don't know me that well." I easily stood, ignoring the aches in my body, when I just gave into all my grace. I didn't have to worry about not hurting my child anymore; I could use my grace freely. I had more than enough stored up that was itching to be released to at least hurt Xureth. Letting my go of every restraint, I gave in. My very grace crackled along my skin, and I was sure I had an aura around me of white light.

With a single nod, Xureth went through the wall behind him. I stepped towards him suddenly feeling so empowered. A brief thought crossed my mind of forcing my graces together and just destroying Xureth like I destroyed Lilith, but something held me back. Some form of reason calmed those thoughts from my mind.

Somewhere in the distant, I heard the distinct cry of demons and horsemen. Apparently my presence hadn't gone unnoticed. I would only have a few minutes before a mass of them would be upon me, and alone, I wouldn't have much chance.

"That was interesting," my brother said standing from the rubble and brushing himself off. "I didn't know you had such power when you were like this."

"This?" I asked suddenly curious about things to come, but Xureth didn't answer with words but with his power. He sent another wave at me which I just deflected into a nearby building without moving an inch. The building struck collapsed into a heap.

"Your son hasn't told you?" he started to ask; I'm sure he was trying to distract me, but I held my ground. "I figured he would do anything to change what's to come."

"And what's to come?" I asked pushing my grace against my brother's power. We were at a standstill for the moment. In the distance, I heard the sounds of hooves; the horsemen were very close.

My brother smiled at me, a full grin of white teeth. "My lovely, beautiful sister, what's to come you ask?" He was enjoying this too much. "Your death, of course…"

I wasn't shocked by that. I knew I was supposed to die by Lucifer's blade; Chuck had told me himself.

"By Castiel's hand."

That I wasn't expecting, and the shock caused me to lose focus. I was thrown back into the rubble and right onto my stomach. A sudden agony ripped through my spine as I felt my brother push his own tainted power into me. His hand was pressed into my back.

"Do not worry," he whispered. "I do not plan to kill you. I only want my cousin. I do not need the future changing… too much."

"However we would like to," a voice called out, and I glanced over to see Plague on top of his horse. His voice sent a shudder through my throbbing spine, but the extreme pain at least let up as my brother stepped away. The other three Horsemen were grinning down on me only five feet away. I had to think of something quick or risk being dragged back to my father.

"You're no longer pregnant," Death said noticing the lack of life in me. "The child live?"

"None of your business," I growled pushing myself up onto my elbows, panting from the excursion. Every fiber of my being was ready to just lay down and accept death, but the thought of Chris growing up alone even for a moment (future aside), I couldn't bear it. I forced my grace out again and threw all of them away from me. Xureth slammed into a car while the horsemen ended up on their backs.

I stood up, the pain ebbing away. My brother attempted to come straight at me, but I threw a single punch into his face. His head snapped to the side, and I followed it up with an uppercut. Blood sprinkled across my current blouse. My brother didn't take long to recover though as he pushed forward off his back foot and threw a right hook. I ducked it and stepped back in time to miss his follow-up punch. I tried my own right hook followed by a round house kick, but he knew better and just used his energy to push me back off balance. I had to compensate or risk falling, so I just fell back into my fighting stance just in time to receive a kick to my side. If it wasn't for my grace protecting my body, a rib surely would have broken.

My arms were suddenly pinned to my sides as I was picked off the ground. Plague had gotten back up and decided to incapacitate me; anger rushed through my veins. Just having his skin touch mine again sent vomit almost right into my mouth.

"Let. Me. Go!" I screamed letting loose a wave of my grace. The very ground shook from the power I exerted, and the Horsemen was gone. I glanced behind myself to see him in a bloody heap, and I could only hope he was dead… though I doubted it. I heard a 'tsk' and faced forward. Xureth stood there unharmed.

"Strong but a waste," he commented as I felt my knees give out. I was still only human- to some degree- and my body was giving it. I just couldn't handle fighting at the level, say, an angel could brawl at.

I was going to die or worse be captured at this point. I had wasted everything just for Xureth to beat me because a fit of rage. I attempted to reach out to the angels… I needed Cas… Xureth's words echoed in my head suddenly, and I felt for Anna instead instinctively.

"Don't you touch her," I heard someone hiss. I glanced behind myself to see my son, my full grown son, suddenly land. "This is between us cousin."

"Perhaps it is, perhaps it isn't," he shrugged but looking ready for a swift retreat. My brother took a small step back just as Anna appeared next to me. "It was good to see you as yourself Rachel."

"Shut up you bastard!" Chris snarled. "Don't you dare speak to her!"

"Another time," Xureth said with a bow before disappearing in a cloud of dust. When I looked around, all of the horsemen were now gone as well.

"Are you okay?" Dean asked appearing on my other side. He helped me to my feet before taking a step back.

"Dean what's wrong?" I asked, worried.

"Your eyes," he said staring at me, but I only shrugged. "They're white… like a demons… but not. They're glowing."

"It must be my grace," I sighed shutting my eyes and willing it all away though I doubted that would actually work. "I had to summon a lot to take my brother on. He's quite strong."

"You shouldn't do that," I heard Chris say. He was probably right in front of me. "You don't know what the consequence of using so much grace at once will… could," he corrected quickly. "Do to you."

I opened my eyes, and Dean gave me a short nod. At least I looked normal for the moment. Anna was fussing over my wings which I hadn't used all fight, so I was sure they were quite fine.

"Why do you still get yourself kidnapped?" she asked with a groan.

"Better me than Dean?" I said with a shrug. I looked over at Chris and saw his worried gaze focused on me. Mary was frowning right behind him.

"We should get out of sight," Dean suggested. I didn't blame him for not liking our wide open position. We hunkered down in one of the abandoned buildings.

"How far did he pull me?" I asked referring to Xureth's stunt to get my attention.

"Far enough," Chris sighed.

"It took you reaching out to Anna for us to track you down," Mary admitted.

I saw Anna giving me a strange look then; I could see the question written on her face: why did I reach out for her and not Cas? I tried to dislodge my gaze and focus on the floor.

"Plans to get Xureth out of this time?" I mumbled still trying to get his words from my head: Cas… my death… Those words just didn't seem to jumble right together.

"I can do it," Chris said meeting my gaze. "That's why he turned tail when he saw me."

"Chris can easily take Xureth," Mary said in support. "It's more of corning him that is the issue at this point."

I nodded before glancing out over the wasteland. The wind had picked up and tossed red ash around. The sun was beating down, and a few large demons were high in the sky circling. I wouldn't be shocked if they were here due to Lucy's orders. This wasn't common for both Dean and I to be out in the open.

"Whatever we are going to do, we have to do it soon," Dean said with a frown. "I don't like being this far out in enemy territory."

"Any hunters patrolling this area by chance?" I asked hoping for some allies, but Dean shook his head.

"We're very deep in Lucy's area."

I sighed before standing and moving away from the group to just clear my head. I knew I wasn't thinking clearly after that fight with Xureth; my body and head were pounding. I leaned against a cracked wall running my fingers down the cement. More than anything, I just wanted to lie down and sleep for twenty hours.

"Mom?" I heard Chris whisper. I looked over and saw my son staring at me sadly. He stepped up to me and placed his hand against my cheek; suddenly, I felt as if he hadn't seen me in years.

"Am I dead?" I whispered.

"I can't…" Chris started. "The future…"

"Can be changed," I replied. "Screw destiny in Dean's words. I make my own." I grasped his hand that was against my face in my own. "Am I dead?" I asked again.

Chris didn't answer but his eyes fell to the ground, and I felt like crying. I would have never wanted my son to grow up without a mother, but I knew better. I knew I was supposed to die; I had just always hoped it would have been later rather than sooner.

"It's okay," I sighed with a small smile. "I know I'm to die…" I paused wondering how to word my next sentence carefully. "Just tell me that Xureth was lying."

His eyes met mine, and I could see the confusion littered among the sadness. He pulled his hand away and stepped back. We just looked at each other for a moment; the silence hung heavy in the air.

"Don't tell me Castiel did it…" I more or less blurted it out, but I had to know. Chris's eyes immediately darkened over, and I had my answer. "He couldn't… he loved me…"

"You loved him more," he hissed, and I could see his eyes becoming moist. "You're not dead…"

I met his gaze, and I just waited to see what exactly Chris would say. None of this made sense.

"I can only tell you what I was told," he said just as Mary stepped up.

"We can't Chris," she whispered trying not to alert Dean and Anna who were conversing amongst themselves. "Michael…"

"Can screw his orders. This is my Mom," he said directly to Mary. "I have to try." She just sighed and nodded stepping back to let him tell this story.

"It was some battle against Lucifer," Chris started with a deep breath. "From what I heard, you were badly injured and the battle was not in your favor. _Castiel_," he growled, "Dad," he corrected. "He stepped up to help and it all went wrong fast. Castiel was going to die, but you couldn't let that. You wouldn't let him go even though he had…"

"What is going on?" Dean asked stepping up, and Chris immediately quieted. "I thought we weren't supposed to mess with the past?" He apparently had heard enough to know what was going on.

"We shouldn't," Mary even said. "But that doesn't mean we can't. The war is over," she said, spoiling it all. "We won, but at a great price."

"Mom," Chris said just as Anna stepped forward. "You cannot combine your grace like that anymore, and the angels are lying."

"If we won, then no price is too great," Anna said; she looked at me with a frown, but I nodded.

"Anna's right," I replied. "If we have won, then it doesn't matter if I'm dead."

"Mom you don't understand!" he growled. "You…"

"Enough Chris," a new voice boomed out, and a shiver ran down my spine. I snapped my head over and there stood Dean… but Dean was next to me. The Dean across the way looked older if only by a few years, but there was an obvious difference between the two.

"Michael," I whispered looking at the older Dean.

"Hello Rachel," he said, and Dean, my Dean, just stood- his mouth agape. "You are just here to retrieve Xureth. Not to change things to come."

"Easy for you to say," Mary snapped. "You kept everything to yourself until the very end!"

"Why am I an angel?" the younger Dean asked.

"This is what they kept from you," Mary continued, her rebellion shocking me. "Dad, you are the key to stop the war, but only because Michael can only use his full power in you. The other dimension knew this as well, but your demonic side was strong enough without an angel to kill Lucifer."

"Why wasn't I told?" he asked.

"Dean, you must understand," the older Dean said, but I understood. The angels were making us desperate; they couldn't afford to lose this war. If that meant waiting until human numbers were low, so we'd agree to anything… they would.

"Get out of my time," I growled.

"Rachel, the price to pay…" the older Dean started.

"Is too great," I snapped. "My cousin will not be a meat-suit for you out of desperation." I let my grace out again. "I can accept my death to help end this war, but you will not do this to him!" I pushed Michael away and sent myself at him. I had every intention of pushing this Michael back to his time, but another force stopped me mid-attack and threw me back against the others.

I stabilized my balance and looked up to see my attacker only to see… myself. I looked no different physically, but I could see the internal change almost immediately. My older self stood there protecting the older Michael, but it had no human soul. My older self was pure angel.

"Chris," I hissed. "Can you get rid of them?"

"Listen to your orders Christopher," my older self said in monotone. "Changing the past is not meant to be. This is destiny at work." The words were so cold, and I hated myself for saying them even if it wasn't me… technically.

"I can if I combine my power with yours," Chris said to me, and I felt him step up next to me.

"We make our own destiny," the younger Dean growled just as Chris and I forced the two away. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, but when the deed was done, and older Dean and myself was gone, both Chris and I fell to our knees.

"That I was not expecting," Anna said, and I wanted to growl at her for being an angel. There was still treachery even among those I counted as friends.

"Mom didn't know," Mary defended. "She falls after the war because of everything that happened."

"And what was that?" I asked referring more to myself than of Michael.

"That, Mom, is what happen when you force your grace together without boundaries," Chris explained. "That is what happened when Lucifer was about to kill Castiel. You extinguished your human soul to become a powerful angel to save _him_."

**Chapter 7: **It's official… the future is revealed, and all Dean and Rachel want to do is change it all. They start to wonder if they can break away and fight the war on their own front and change their destiny while trying to fight off Xureth… And finally, Chris reveals what happened to Sam after all these years.


	7. C Change of Plans

**Author's note: **Sorry for so much convo, but I needed to finish this arc up, and I wanted to get this story slightly more like the show again.

**C. Chapter 7**

Of everything I had been considering… this was not it. My older self being just an angel came as a shock, but it wasn't as bad as the surprise for Dean. He was leaning back against a wall with his head in his hands. I couldn't tell what he was thinking, but I had a relatively good guess. We both had thought the angels were on our side, yet that didn't seem to be the case now. Both Dean and I knew that the hunters had a great number of losses, and the angels had always seemed to be holding back. But this wasn't what we had thought to be the reason; why couldn't have the angels just have asked for what they wanted instead of waiting for us to be so desperate?

"We can't stay here," Mary said breaking the hard silence. "Even with Chris and yours," she said indicating me, "power, Michael won't be banished for good. He'll be back."

"Then lets move," Dean muttered pushing himself up and grabbing his knap sack. "We need to get to Xureth sooner rather than later."

"Dean," Anna said reaching for him, but he shrugged her off.

"Perhaps you should go back to base Anna," I suggested. "I think this is one of those times we need our time."

While she might not have completely agreed with me, Anna nodded and disappeared from sight. I gave Dean a small smile before following him out of the rubble and back into the wasteland that use to be Earth.

"Where would Xureth go?" I asked, but when I looked at my son, he looked at me almost guilty.

"Mom, there is something else I should tell you…"

"Hello sister," Xureth said only a few feet from us. I pulled out my blade ready to strike down this creature, but Chris stopped me by grabbing my forearm.

"He's on our side," Chris said, and I just froze up. Dean didn't even look like he knew what to say.

"It wasn't a perfect situation," Xureth continued. "But desperate times."

"Why?" I croaked out. "What is this all about?"

"Getting you the truth," Mary said. "We wanted to wait for my Mom to leave. This is for your ears only."

I stepped back next to my cousin. We stood there unsure how to act; our enemy was now next to our children… and yet this still wasn't the weirdest thing to happen today. While Dean and I weren't obviously comfortable, we gave them a chance to explain.

"We wanted to show you what the angels had planned," Chris said. "But I am not allowed to travel through time."

"I gave him a reason," Xureth said.

"So you threatened Chris and went back in time knowing Michael would send Chris back to stop you?" Dean summarized thus far.

"Exactly," Mary said. "The angels aren't just hiding the fact Dad is Michael's vessel. They also aren't telling you what will happen to the Earth if angels win."

"Everything is a paradise," Xureth said. "But by paradise, it is an angel's paradise. Humans are emotionless, soulless basically. There is no evil, but humans have no control of their lives. They feel nothing."

"It's a paradise for angels because they no longer have to watch over us," Mary said. "I only exist because Dad made sure I was protected before everything happened."

Both Dean and I remained silent. The only thoughts in my head were: eternal peace?; that sounds great; but no free will?... I glanced at Dean and he met my gaze.

"That's not their right to decide," Dean said obviously referring to angels. "How do we stop them?"

"Don't work with them anymore," Chris suggested. "I can't tell you how to change the future. I can only tell you what happened."

Mary handed us two hex bags. "These will keep you hidden from all angels."

"What do we do now?" I asked.

Dean looked at me. "We go back to base, get the angels out, and go from there."

"What about them?" I said looking at my son. He just stared at me with a saddened gaze.

"We go back," Chris said.

"Michael…" Dean started.

"Will probably kill us," Mary said. "But we're make sure he can't come back to try and change what we've just changed." She threw her arms around her Dean's neck. I could see her telling him something.

Chris even walked up to me and hugged me. "I always wanted to know my Mom," he whispered in my ear. "Thank-you f or that chance."

Xureth gave me a lopsided grin. "Next time we meet, we will be enemies," he said. "I only helped with this plan as even I am not threatened by all of this."

"Good and evil working together," I sighed.

"There's a joke there somewhere," Dean said for me. The three of them stepped away from us, and I just wanted to reach back out and grab my son.

"Please don't fail," Chris whispered.

"Bye Dad," Mary frowned.

Xureth just gave a shrug, and I felt like laughing almost from the non-chalant of it all. When they all disappeared in a bright white light, I turned to my cousin. He was deep in thought, but we didn't have time for this.

"We're in the middle of nowhere, we better get back to base," I suggested but Dean didn't budge. "Dean?"

"I know where Sammy is," he said in a barely audible whisper. "Mary told me where to find him."

"Is he alive?" I asked suddenly worried for my other missing cousin.

"At the moment," Dean shrugged. "We won't have much time though." I looked at my cousin before grabbing his wrist. We didn't have time to walk back to base, so I just pulled us there using a lot of my angelic power.

We landed in the middle of the base in the middle of the night. The entire area was quiet, but Dean and I went to work quickly. We started to draw symbols against angels on every wall. I found Bobby and woke him and just told him what we needed to be done. I didn't explain why, just that we had to. I went slightly outside the base while Dean and Bobby continued and called Cas.

"Why can't I sense you?" he asked as he landed in front of me.

"I need my son," I said without wasting a beat.

"But Xureth," Cas said, but I stopped him mid-sentence with two fingers against his lips.

"No longer an issue, but my son," I said again. Within a moment, Cas disappeared and returned with my baby version of Chris. He was completely silent at the moment, and I just held him in bliss for a few seconds.

"I'm sorry," I said. "For what's to come. "

"Rachel?" Cas asked suddenly worried about what was going on, but I leaned forward and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. My thoughts were still centered on the betrayal that was coming. Cas might not know what was to come, but at the moment, we needed time from the angels… I needed time from Cas to process my upcoming human death. I would die for Cas any day… but the Cas I would die for was the one I fell in love with, and he hadn't been around. This Cas was walking on eggshells in heaven, and in turn, it was breaking my heart.

"I am sorry," I said stepping back against the metal door of the base. Cas stepped forward opening his arms to try and stop me from leaving, but I only turned and slammed my hand against the iron finishing the symbol to banish angels. On the iron rust, the blood had been barely noticeable. I tried not to look at his betrayed eyes as he was forced from my sight.

I rushed inside and the door was pushed shut. All the walls had banishment symbols and 'keep out' symbols etched in. For the moment, we couldn't have the angels helping us. For now it would be a three-way war. Humans… angels… demons.

Dean was standing on top of a few crates explaining to the numerous citizens of this base what was going on. He was leaving out some details, but he was telling them that there was a chance the angels couldn't be trusted… that we would have to be more careful about who we let into the base, and until we knew who to trust, we couldn't have the pigeons in here having free reign. There were a few protests from the more religious zealots, but most people were murmuring their agreement. It was as if they had even noticed the cold shoulder many of the angels had given to our kind. The zealots looked upset, but after they voiced their concern, they quieted and agreed with our fearless leader. Dean may not be the most poetic, but people trusted his opinion. His word was law, and if he said angels were bad news, the angels were bad news.

I pushed through the leaving crowd, as it was still dead of night, up to Dean with baby Chris still in my arms. Bobby stood there not looking too overly pleased with us. His glare was piercing into both of us, but thankfully, Chris took that moment to let out a wail and almost blow out our ear drums. When I quieted him with a few rocks, we all couldn't help but laugh.

"You two are idjits," Bobby sighed taking Chris from my arms.

"We try," I shrugged, already missing the feel of my child in my arms.

"We only have a few moments," Dean said. "The angels will come down here in ten-fold, and Rachel and I have to be gone before that happens."

"Is this a good idea?" Bobby asked.

"We have to find Sammy," I frowned.

"We can save him, Bobby," Dean continued. "But we can't do that with the angels on our heels."

"Especially after what the future told us," I sighed. "The angels are purposely waiting for this war to hit rock bottom, so we have no other choice."

"But we do have a choice now," Dean said. "We can save Sammy and stop this war without the angels."

"That possible?" Bobby asked.

"No idea," I answered truthfully. "But it's better than letting Dean become some meat puppet for Michael and letting the world become a buttload of sunshine and daisies."

Bobby still didn't look thrilled, but he knew once we made our minds up, there was no changing it. He held onto Chris tighter and gave me a small frown. "I'll take care of him."

I nodded my thanks before walking towards the back door of the base with Dean. The impala was back there, but we didn't need that car sadly. It didn't do well all-terrain. We were just going to get every gun Dean owned out of it then head out in a jeep.

"Dean!" Bobby shouted, so we turned back to look at him. "Bring Sam back… but not at the cost of your idjit life."

We both shared a smile before heading out again. We sped up getting all the weapons into the Jeep. It wouldn't take long for the angels to realize what had happened, and they would soon figure we were hidden from their senses. As Dean loaded the trunk, I carved an anti-angel symbol into the door.

"Set?" I asked.

"We have work to do," he said slamming the trunk shut and jumping into the driver's seat of the jeep. We looked back at the base in the rearview one last time as we both knew we wouldn't be able to come back anytime soon. The angels would be looking for us, and we couldn't exactly make it easy.

Just as Dean hit the gas, bright light shot from the sky. Angels were showing up, but we were already on the road and disappearing from sight. The dead on night and the woods a couple miles out would easily hide our presence from at least the angels. Demons, on the other hand, we would have to be very careful.

"How long?" Dean asked.

"Till we get to where Sammy's at?" I returned. He just nodded. "Couple hours of straight driving. We just better hope we run into no demons or horsemen."

"With our luck," he chuckled. "Do we have a plan on how to get into Lucy's palace?"

"I have one, but it's not a good one," I sighed.

**End Arc 1.**

**Next Chapter: **Dean and Suriel interlude

**Back to the Pit:**

"Hello Father," I smiled leaning casually against a pillar. Lucifer looked by far shocked to see me just waltzing into his home, so much so, that he didn't automatically sick the hellhounds on me. I could only widen my grin and walk towards him.

"Now what are you doing here daughter?" Lucifer asked, narrowing his gaze. I only bowed my head in response before falling to one knee.

"I've decided to join the winning side," I responded. "I want to swear my allegiance to you Father. I want to help you wipe out the angels."


	8. Dean and Suriel

**Dean and Suriel**

Dean sighed knowing this probably wasn't one of his best ideas, but he had to see Anna one more time. He hadn't even gotten to say good-bye when he and Rachel took off running from the angels. He just wanted a few moments to explain to her why he was hiding. Rachel had given Dean his space, so he could summon the angel. She had decided to hide in the woods just in case anything went wrong. Angels couldn't track them, but angels could track one of their own.

Dean finished the summoning ritual and stood to wait. His gaze pierced out into the morning light. He waited patiently for once, just hoping Suriel would come alone. He didn't know what he would do if all the angels reigned down on them.

"What did you do Dean?" Anna asked appearing from seemingly nowhere.

"Anna," he whispered moving out to touch her, but she shied away. "You don't understand."

"When I left you, you were going after Xureth," she said. "Then you were gone… I thought…. Then, all the angels are summoned down to the human base only to find that we've been banned." She was shaking her head in sadness and confusion.

"Things have changed," Dean said as he clenched his fists by his sides. His head hung, and it was easy to tell he was not enjoying this conversation thus far. "Michael is going to use me as a puppet."

"Dean," Anna whispered. "I didn't know that was his plan… but that didn't mean you had to run. Michael will not force you…"

"He does," he continued. "Xureth wasn't here to kill Chris, but to give Chris a reason to come back and warn us. The angels wait for mankind to get so desperate that I say yes… then they make it a paradise where we are just Stepford bitches."

Anna looked taken back. "He wouldn't…"

"He wouldn't tell you," he sighed finally reaching up and touching Anna's cheek. "We had to run. I don't want human kind to suffer because of what I did." Dean still had yet to let go that he broke the first seal. "And now I can save my brother."

Anna looked heartbroken. "You could have told me before just disappearing like that." She threw her arms around his neck. "I thought you had died."

"Too stubborn too," he grinned against her hair. He knew he was running out of time. There was only so long that the other angels wouldn't notice a comrade's disappearance.

"You're going to disappear again, aren't you?"

"I have no choice… whatever you hear in months to come," he stopped unsure of how to continue. "It's not true. Don't believe it, but do what must be done."

"What are you talking about?" Anna stepped away to look at Dean, but before she could repeat her question, he silenced her with his lips against hers. He enjoyed the next few moments fully before having no choice but to pull away.

"Just please trust me." Dean glanced to the sky. "I have to go… the angels."

"It's fine," she whispered. "Do me a favor." Dean looked at her questioningly. "Take a nap."

Dean only smiled in response before sprinting into the thicker portion of the woods disappearing from sight just in time. Two more angels landed near Suriel, and she shook her head. The Winchester could hear her saying that she was summoned, but no one was here to greet her. The other angels didn't look like they believed her, but they couldn't exactly argue with a superior either. Suriel waited a few moments longer even after the other two angels left.

She glanced to her right in time to see Cas appear next to her. "You can lie to them but not to me," he said crouching down to examine the summoning tools. "Dean was here."

"Does it matter?" Anna asked. "He's gone now, and we can't sense where he went."

"The angels will soon be scouring these woods anyway."

"They're already gone."

"Was Rachel...?" Cas couldn't help but ask. There was slight worry in his voice even if his face didn't portray it.

"If she was, she wasn't in sight," Anna admitted touching Cas's shoulder and giving it a reassuring squeeze. "She is fine if Dean is fine."

"What did you two speak of?"

"Forgiveness, lies, and riddles."

Cas stared at his friend for a few moments without saying anything. "Lies?"

"Dean found out about him being a vessel for Michael."

Cas sighed and nodded. "It was only time… Does he know about Sam?"

"I don't think so…"

Cas nodded before changing topic. "We need to leave. The rest of our garrison wants to scour the woods."

Anna just shook her head before disappearing with Cas.

"I don't know if I should be shocked," I frowned staring out to where Anna and Cas were just standing. "Do you think they knew we were eavesdropping?"

"No," Dean sighed stepping out beside me as we stared at the place the two angels were just standing. "Which is good. We learned something."

"I can't believe they knew about all of this and didn't tell us." I leaned against my cousin. "Guess we really don't have many we can trust."

"We have each other and Sam when we get him back," Dean corrected. "They also probably couldn't say a word without risking death, angel boot camp, or falling."

"I know," I sighed. "I don't blame them. I just wish…"

"Yeah," Dean agreed. "The truth would have always been nice."

"What do you think they meant by Sam?" I asked.

"I don't know," he admitted. "But I'd prefer not to wait much longer to find out. Let's get out of these woods."

I nodded my agreement before we headed back through the brush back to the jeep. We were moving quietly in case the angels were already flying around where we couldn't see. The last thing we needed at the moment was to be caught just as we were getting ready to do something stupid. The Jeep was sitting carelessly on the edge of the woods covered up with some dead brush and branches. We worked quickly to uncover it knowing full well at any moment an angel could appear.

"Why are you running?" a voice asked just as we pushed off the last branch. We glanced behind the truck to see Michael standing there staring at us.

I cursed under my breath and turned my body to face the angel. Dean followed suit, so we could face the archangel head-on. He was looking at us strangely, and he didn't seem to understand anything that was going on.

"We're done playing games," Dean said trying to make this as believable as possible. If what was to come was to keep us alive, the angels had to believe it. "You were trying to make us desperate… trying to push us so I'd say yes. But no more."

"You lied to us," I snarled. "We aren't your puppets anymore."

"It was for your own good," Michael tried to reason. "You did not need any more weight on your shoulders, Dean. I wanted to wait until you were ready."

"If it had meant stopping Lucifer at any point," Dean countered. "I would have said sign me right up. Instead, you let Lucy destroy human homes because you angels don't want to watch us anymore. You don't want to be jealous of what your Daddy gave us."

"The paradise we have to offer…" Michael started.

"Takes away everything that makes humans human," I finished. "Free will."

"Thanks but no thanks," Dean growled. "Rachel!"

I nodded before slamming my hand into the door forcing Michael away. We had said our peace, but now it was time to get the hell out of dodge. We hopped in the car and sped off as quick as the shitty roads would allow us to. We sat in silence for some of the trip, just reviewing everything that had just occurred.

"What did Suriel say to you…" I asked curious.

"She told me to take a nap," Dean grinned, flashing me his trademark smile. I could only shake my head; at least, he would get to see Anna a few more times. She'd be able to enter his dreams and they could have their alone time. I was almost jealous, but then again, Cas hadn't exactly been much to me besides a pigeon as of late…

"Do you think they believed us?" he asked suddenly.

"Let's hope so, or this won't work period."

**Arc 2: Back to the Pit  
**

It will be denoted by a B. in front of each chapter. I already gave you a preview of it last chapter, so just R&R :P


	9. B Idle Hands

**B. Chapter 8**

Out of everything that Dean and I had done up to this point seemed completely normal in comparison. This would most likely mean my death at least, but I had discussed it with Dean already. We had agreed that this was the only real chance we had. The angels were useless; they could argue among themselves if hiding the truth from us was a good idea. We wouldn't wait for them to decide though; there was work to be done and a devil to stop.

That didn't mean standing in Lucifer's palace was exactly the best place to start. However, this really was the first step I had to at least take. Dean was hidden outside the main grounds for demons, hidden by a hex bag. I couldn't even sense him, but that was for his own good. It had taken a lot of arguing to make him agree that me sensing him would be a bad idea. I didn't know what my Father would do to me when he saw me. I could only guess what Alistair would do given the chance again.

Getting past the demons wasn't that hard, and I was thankful that I knew how to send demons back to Hell with a simple push of my grace. I was trying to sneak as far in as I could before I would see Daddy.

After the front door, I hadn't found anymore demons inside the church. But then again, only high level demons could usually tread on this hollow ground. I followed the empty hallway towards the main chamber where I was sure to find my Father and demons pouring over some sort of plan to find the human base. I was able to sneak into the main room by a side door and hide behind a pillar. Lucy was there along with Alistair and two more demons I didn't recognize. One was a fallen angel, but the other was a demon I didn't think I'd ever have the "pleasure" of meeting.

I could hear them discussing in detail, or at least Alistair and the two demons were discussing, their next steps against the humans. I heard the word Croatoan, and I hissed lightly. That would dwindle human numbers more; at this rate, there wouldn't even be an Earth left to save. As it was currently, it would take a lot of angel mojo to probably fix the current Earth.

"I don't care how its done," the fallen growled, "we just have to get it done."

"The Horsemen have been unwilling to help as much as of recently," Alistair admitted to Lucy. "Without your full power, they are…" the demon trailed off.

"Rebelling," the demon I didn't know replied in a thick Scottish accent.

I watched as my Father attempted to keep his cool exterior and just sighed. "It will be simple to get them back into order as soon as the Winchesters are taken care of."

That seemed like a cue for me…

"Hello Father," I smiled leaning casually against a pillar. Lucifer looked by far shocked to see me just waltzing into his home, so much so, that he didn't automatically sick the hellhounds on me. I could only widen my grin and walk towards him.

"Now what are you doing here daughter?" Lucifer asked, narrowing his gaze. I only bowed my head in response before falling to one knee.

"I've decided to join the winning side," I responded. "I want to swear my allegiance to you Father. I want to help you wipe out the angels." I kept my head low as I watched Lucy walk towards me; I heard a blade being pulled out, but I only shut my eyes. I had to play this through; no turning back now. "All I ask is that the Winchesters are not harmed in the end." I finally looked up to see my Father directly in front of me. I could feel the hot breath of a hellhound next to me.

"Why Rachel I must say I don't believe you," my Father countered. He had yet to kill me, so this was a better start than what I thought.

"The angels have lied to me," I said trying to keep neutrality in my voice. "They have been purposely making us desperate so we rely on them." I stood to face my Father being careful not to set off the hounds. "At this point, being on your side protects the Earth from further destruction and my family."

My Father looked at me carefully. I could tell he was scrutinizing every inch of me. "Now what of my grandson?"

I had to make this believable. "The angels stole him." I couldn't say Chris was dead; that wouldn't have been believed. "I want him back."

"And what of your precious angel?" the Scottish demon asked stepping towards me.

"He lied to me just as the rest did," I hissed. "I may not be able to kill him, but I won't let him control me like some dog on a leash. Plus I have to think of my own kind. Angels will just murder off all the Nephilim at the end of this, and I do have a niece and nephew to think of." My sister's kids were with some hunter pair at another base camp, but they were a good excuse for the moment.

"I would like to believe you Rachel," Lucifer started, but I stopped him.

"I know I've been an angel lover since day one, but I know their plans for me." It was true; I knew why Suriel was sent to keep me safe. I knew why Michael didn't smite me. I didn't quite understand it until I saw what they had planned for Dean, but now it made sense. I thanked the heavens for having Chuck as a friend.

"And what was that?" Alistair asked running his eyes over my form.

"They wanted to keep me alive for my grace," I sighed. "After all, you can't have a battle between the brothers with one missing their grace." The angels had been keeping me safe, so that later they could literally ripe me apart to give Lucy back his grace. I didn't understand why until seeing Dean in the future as Michael. The two- Lucy and Michael- have to have their showdown as angels. Both… which means I'm useful until Dean says yes. How in the future I was a full angel… I didn't understand, but at least, I threw a wrench into the angels' plans at some point in the distant future.

"I should just drag you back to the Pit," Alistair sneered.

"I'm more use here, and you know it," I said meeting the demon's eyes.

"I can't just trust you daughter," Lucy said touching my cheek as if I really was his precious daughter. "And you have my grace."

"Fine," I hissed. "I'll make a deal." That got their attention. "My loyalty for the Winchesters' safety." I could only hope this worked. "I will swear my allegiance in place of my soul if you can promise me the Winchesters are not harmed by you or any hand you command." I knew I had to work this perfectly or risk everything. "This includes Suriel for Dean, Castiel, and my brother Ryan." I had to count Suriel and Cas in too; I knew Lucifer would have me against them soon enough. I saw the demon I didn't recognize step forward with a single glance from Lucifer. "Do we have a deal?"

"Crowley," my Father said with a grin.

"Deal sweetheart," the demon now named Crowley said before kissing me roughly. I felt my grace cry in actual agony from the taint of making a deal. The very smudge forced me to my knees, and I was panting.

"I'm at your disposal," I said looking up at my Father's smile. I hated myself for making a deal, but there was only so much I could do to prove my loyalty.

"Don't look at me like that Rachel," my Father said. "It will not be bad serving under me. I will not kill you." He helped me to my feet. "After all, you're my beautiful daughter."

I felt like puking on his feet. That sounded quite beautiful, but I held my composure. I had to behave until I could find Sam, and then find a way to get Sammy out of here. I knew I wouldn't have much time before I was found out, but it didn't matter. With that deal in place, I was stuck for sure, but Sam… I had to get him out before he could say yes to Lucifer. My Father would try to get his grace back, so he could take Sam as his vessel… until then, the final battle couldn't occur.

"What do you want me to do?" I asked trying to hold my tongue. I found myself shifting my weight onto my right leg and placing my hand on my hip. I suddenly felt like Rach, and it was rather creepy how easily I fell into her persona again. I might not be "her" in disguise, but I felt like I was playing her part.

"We have some pigeons on our border," Crowley said. "Can you get rid of the infestation?"

This was a test; could I kill an angel? I knew they would ask this of me, but I wasn't sure if I could. I might hate the birds at the moment, but that didn't mean I wanted to kill them. Still, I had to uphold my part of the bargain. I was sworn to allegiance until I could find a way to break the deal.

"What border?" I asked meeting the demon's eyes.

My Father was smiling at me before turning away and going back to whatever it was he was doing before. Alistair joined him, but Crowley and the fallen stayed looking at me. When the two pushed past me and started to leave, I knew I had to follow. While I wanted to stay and scour the place for Sam, I knew I had to just accept my orders for the moment.

"I don't recognize you," I said to the fallen hoping to break the silence.

"You shouldn't," the thing responded barely glancing back at me. "We have never met."

"Still," I said with a shrug. "Most angels I at least can feel the remnants of their grace."

The blow was unexpected and I stumbled back from the punch. I touched my jaw where the punch still stung. Somehow I knew there was more to this fallen, and it sure as hell didn't appreciate me.

"Children behave," Crowley sighed pulling me along before an actual fight would erupt.

"So you're Crowley?" I said changing topic but keeping my eyes on the fallen.

"So you have ears," he responded.

"You must be high on the food chain to talk to my Father," I said as we finally exited the church. I glanced back at the large stone cathedral.

"I was Lilith's second in command," he said. "I'm…" he paused as if searching for the perfect words. "King of the crossroads."

"Joy," I mumbled under my breath. I just made a deal with probably the only demon I wouldn't be able to break a contract with. This seriously complicated things.

"Over there," the fallen pointed. "Angels are pushing to cross into our borders. Push them back."

"As you command," I growled not liking this fallen. I disappeared from their sight, but I didn't go straight to the border. Instead, I traveled to where Dean was hiding out waiting for me. It was a run-down barn, and it was the barn Dean first met Cas in. While I couldn't sense my cousin, he had made me agree to at least meet him one more time before completely disappearing off my radar.

"Dean," I whispered, afraid I would just bring down the wrath of Hell if I spoke any louder.

"Rachel," he sighed stepping into sight. He came up to me and we shared a brief hug.

"I'm in," I said getting straight to business. I couldn't be sure I wasn't followed. "Getting out will be difficult."

"I can't believe we both thought this was a good idea," he groaned running his palm over his face.

"Not like we had many options left," I shrugged. "We need Sam."

"Good to see we still sacrifice eachother for one another," he responded. "Have you found him?"

"I just got in. They want me to go deal with some angels first."

"Any idea on how you're going to do that?"

"Make it look good and believable?" I attempted with a smile.

"Don't die. I don't want to go into heaven or hell to find you."

"Deal. Just stay out of sight okay?" I asked. I stepped closer to my cousin and tried not to smile at our similar heights. "We can't have demons tracking you down."

"Don't worry, I know where to go," Dean nodded. "You have five days until I summon you."

"Five days to find Sam and break a deal," I laughed. "How hard can that be?"

"Good luck."

"Thanks I'll need it." We exchanged one more hug.

"Now get out of here. No more chick flick moments for us."

I tried not to laugh, but without another word, I flew from sight. Landing silently, I took in my surroundings to see a simple scuffle of angels vs. demons. The demons were lower class and basically having their asses handed to them. I thankfully didn't recognize any of the angels, but once I made my move, there was no going back. I would become enemy number 2, my Father being number 1.

I saw my chance to make a few moves, but I held back. I just watched the fight as each demon was sent straight back to the Pit. Not that it mattered, the demons would just crawl right back out. The angels were making a hard push to finish the last of the demons when I sucked up my last resolve.

A demon was about to be exorcized when I jumped in and threw the angel off of him. I stepped between the winged pigeon and the hell bitch. I held up both my blades, the blades Gabriel was nice enough to give me… Some days, I still didn't understand why Gabriel betrayed us for Lucifer…

"Get out of here," I hissed towards the demon. "Father wants you and the rest back." The demons still standing stared at me strangely. I felt my grace crackling in the air. "Do I need to say 'that's a fucking order'?" The demons scampered off while the angels formed a line in front of me. Thankfully, it was only five freakin' angels.

"Rachel?" one asked. "Winchester."

"Fighting for the devil," another said.

"Finally succumbed to your natural ways," the third said. I hated them in that moment. Nephilims were always hated; no wonder most ran to my Father in the end.

"Doing what I have to," I responded before smiling. They had to believe this.

Without concern, I attacked one angel to my left. He ducked easily from my attack, but I continued pushing forward forcing the angel to keep stepping back. The other three flanked me, but I was trained by an arch-angel. I countered an attack from my left by kicking the angel away and continued to attack straight on. I hissed when I felt a blade nick my arm, but that told me a pigeon got to close. I spun rather quickly and shoved my blade right into his gut. I tried not to cry out in shock as the ease that I killed an angel. His grace exploded out, but I couldn't stop and stare. I had to turn and continue fighting or risk my own death.  
The remaining angels looked hesitant to fight with me, and each took a step back as I flipped my blades around my hands. I tried hard to ignore the blood on my hands. It was hot and dripping fresh, and I just wanted to throw up. It was one thing to kill a demon, but here I was killing the things that were helping humanity… trying to help humanity. They were manipulative and throwing a temper tantrum, but they still had done more for humans than my Father ever had. I didn't feel right killing them, but I kept this emotion from my face. I had to basically be my counterpart: Rach.

"Who's next?" I smiled taking a relaxed stance. I watched the four angels exchange a glance before flapping away. I'm sure they would go tell Michael what transpired and bring back a ten-fold of angels. They couldn't let me live on my Father's side; I was too strong. I wondered briefly if that was why they let my relationship go on with Cas for as long as it did. After all, being enamored with an angel did keep me from hop and skipping over to Daddy dearest.

I shut my eyes, and within a breath, I was back in the church in front of my Father. I fell back to my knees knowing this was all a test. I set my still bloody blades in front of me.

"I pushed the angels back," I said. "But the amount I fought suggested a scouting group. I killed one and the rest fled."

"You did more than I expected," I heard my Father say stepping in front of me and pulling me to my feet. He touched one of my hands that was still slightly dripping. "You'll be a queen here."

I could only nod and all the while, I tried not to cry. The only thought I could keep coherent was 'this is all for Sam.' I hoped my cousin was somewhere around here or this would all be for nothing.

**Author Note:** Life is going to get interesting. This arc will have a lot of Rachel and Sam; Dean is going to be MIA (for obvious reasons). Let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions for what you want to see, let me know, I listen.


	10. B The First Look

**B. Chapter 9**

A single day had passed, and I was no closer to finding Sam. It didn't help that I had a demon troupe following me around; they were probably making sure I stayed out of trouble. I needed to slip them if I wanted to explore this church in a tad more depth. The biggest issue though was the one I still could not identify- that Fallen. He stared at me with hatred, and if I didn't know better, I would swear he wanted my head on a pike.

I was currently walking around the church's grounds glancing at all the demons flocking nearby. The rumor had spread fast of my defection, and every one want a peek of Lucifer's daughter- half angel, half mongrel. It was strange to think that all these demons use to be human, and I couldn't help but wonder how many of them struggled to hang onto that humanity. The way each stared at me, blood and drool dripping from their teeth- I could assume none.

Each step I took, grass would crunch audibly beneath my boots. That was one thing my Father was kind of enough to find me- a new pair of shoes… and he kept the Horsemen far from me. He knew that Plague and I had terms to settle, and I knew that the last thing Father wanted was for his precious high ground to be torn down in the subsequent battle.

"So little missy," Crowley grinned skipping up to walk beside me. I tried not to groan at the sight of my number 2 fan since arriving. "What do you think of our accommodations? Do they suit you?" If there was ever an award for the most sarcastic demon, Crowley better be the winner. I swore he loved the sound of his own voice.

I stopped in place and turned to the demon, looking quite unamused with his presence. "What can I do you for Crowley?" I said, keeping my tone as neutral as possible.

He ran his finger along the neckline of my current shirt as if he was trying to decide on my fashion taste. I felt myself becoming quite agitated with this thing in front of me, but I somehow held my composure. I simply dreamed of running my blade through his gut.

"Your Daddy," he replied emphasizing with a grin, "would like to see you. Apparently the bird brains are very curious to see you on this side…"

"So he wants to make a show of me…" I sighed. I knew this would come; I was just hoping that it would either come after I've already split or longer than a day. This charade was hard enough to keep up with Lucifer; I couldn't imagine Castiel's eyes when he saw me. The disappointment, the rage… I pushed the thoughts aside just as he had tossed me aside to keep his wings.

"Now would be preferable," he continued.

"As he commands," I grinned with an obnoxious bow. I turned in direction and headed toward the front of the church. I was able to keep my composure on the outside even if my interior was beyond terrified. If Lucifer wanted to show the angels I was now his, he would make a grand show of it. I wouldn't fight a scouting group; I'd fight Michael most likely. I could only hope I would make it thru this fight alive, so I could continue my real reason of being here: finding Sam.

"Father," I said once I reached the altar. It was strange to see my Father in a church surrounded by a few demons and that fallen. Alistair grinned down at me when I fell to a knee in respect. "You called."

"Obedient aren't you?" Alistair purred, and I didn't even want to think of the images running through that sick demon's mind. Just the mere sight of how he was staring at me licking his lips made me want to vomit. "I'm going to guess that's the bird side of you."

"Yeah, and the part of me that will kick your ass will be my Winchester side," I snarled in response. There was nothing more I wanted than to send this sick bastard back to hell permanently.

"Enough children," Lucifer sighed rubbing his temples. I glanced up at the man that was my Father. Whoever he was wearing looked thinned out and dying almost. Even as more demon than angel, my Father would run through vessels until he had Sam. "Your change of heart has apparently caused the angels to change their plans."

"How so?" I asked keeping my eyes on the ground.

"They are moving bases as we speak. They are leaving the humans and moving to a new undisclosed location." He moved directly in front of me, and I found my breath caught in my own throat. "We have a choice dear daughter. We can trace the angels back to the starting point and take out this original base." I found myself shaking involuntary at his words.

"It's angel proofed and demon proofed," I couldn't help but say. "There would be no reason to wipe the humans out," I said trying to keep the plea from my voice. I had wondered why he hadn't grilled me for the human base location yet.

"Oh I know," he said placing two fingers under my chin and having me look up towards him. "I am not worried about the humans currently… which means our other options is to follow the angels and engage them before they have a chance to get their bearings."

"As you command Father," I whispered thankful that I wasn't going to attack my own home. If the angels would be pissed about my sudden "change of heart", I couldn't imagine Bobby's wrath. We might have warned him that Dean and I were about to do something stupid, but I don't think even he could account for THIS amount of stupid. "Point me where I am to go and I will." I wanted to chew my tongue off.

"He will accompany you," Lucy said while pointing to the unknown Fallen. "As will a few of my demons."

"Based on the numbers, this isn't a fight to win but more for them to see that they have lost," I said standing. "To see me with you." I felt his hand brush my cheek.

"Of course daughter," he smiled. "Now go."

The Fallen came to stand beside me before turning without a word and leaving. I almost had to jog to catch up to the brisk pace the creature had set. As we left the church, numerous demons stood around growling and cheering for the chance to spill angel blood.

"Any chance I can get a name for you?" I asked with a grin.

"No," he snarled barely looking my way.

"Okay No," I said to be cheeky, but before I could continue, he had spun and had his hand around my throat.

"You don't belong here," he said, anger blistering in his eyes. He leaned down until his mouth was right next to my ear. "If I have my way, you'll be fed to the hellhounds, piece by piece… and then we will start all over again."

"Gotcha," I shrugged. "Don't piss you off, Broody." I couldn't help but give him a nickname even if he was currently threatening me. His hand tightened around my throat, I could feel his nails digging into my skin. The demons around us stood silently. "Let's just do this job, and then you don't have to look at me." He released me, and I ran a hand across my sore neck. I still couldn't sense his grace, but I knew he had to be an angel before this.

We headed out, demon company and all towards where Broody said the angels were amassing to find a new place to stay. I kept quiet for most of the journey, but I listened to each demon snide and gloat about the numerous angels they had slain and humans they had butchered. It was disgusting to be around this company, and I wasn't sure how I was going to stand it. At least it was only four more days… if I could find Sam and break my deal.

With the speed of supernatural travel, it didn't take us long to come across the twenty or so angels we were hunting. I tried not to grimace at the sight- Michael, Anna, and even Castiel. I felt all my courage with this plan just draining away. I didn't know if I could hurt them; they might have betrayed me, but somehow, they were still my friends… my lover.

I quietly drew my blades trying to keep the horror from my face as Broody pulled out his own weapon. The demons didn't even wait for a cue, they just swarmed the group. I waited in the back and watched the massacre begin. The demons were lower level, they would easily be over taken, but they would exhaust the enemy.

"Michael leave!" I heard Anna cry. "We will hold them off."

"Please brother," Cas added on, and I watched him send a demon straight back to the Pit.

"Second thoughts Rachel?" I heard Broody purr into my ear. I felt his blade press into my spine, not enough to do any damage, but I was sure he was cutting skin.

"No, I belong to Lucifer now," I said before proving my point and flying into the frying pan. I landed in the middle of the mess as two angels were being overrun.

I saw Anna's eyes meet mine, and a massive grin broke out on her face. "Cas, Rachel's here!" Even Michael turned towards me in that moment as did Cas. I swore a small smile broke out on his face. They had been worried about us- Dean and I… That relief of seeing me quickly vanished when I pushed my blade right into the throat of an angel. The light exploded out, and when it faded, I could see the astonishment on Anna's face, the disbelief on Michael's, and the hatred on Castiel's… oh god, this better be worth it.

**Chapter 10: **FIGHT, fight, fight, fight…

**OOC: **Yeah I went poof again. I'm bad, but I swear there's a good excuse! I just finished my novel _Hidden Wings_ to place on the kindle- hence me being busy. I'm going to put this chapter up now, and I'll try to even upload another one tonight. The fight scene shouldn't be hard for me to put together :P

Also, thanks to everyone who keeps reading; I didn't know there were so many of you until I checked my old email and realized how many of you were waiting for a chapter.


	11. B Humanity

**B. Chapter 10**

I realized I was holding my breath, almost like I was still wishing that this plan was all a dream. The look each of the angels gave me was a stab to the heart, and each one was a further twist. I held my ground, knowing I had to with Broody watching, and smiled. I flipped my blades around my hands teasing both Anna and Cas as I stepped toward Michael. There was no way I could take on an arch-angel head first, but I was supposed to be acting a part.

"How… how could you?" Michael growled, his voice deep. It felt as though each word penetrated through my bones and into my soul. I didn't even get within two feet of Michael when I was tackled sideways; I had hoped to ignore Cas this entire time… but apparently, he couldn't ignore me.

"I don't believe it," he said when he had me pinned into the ground. "Those scouts are wrong… you're wrong." I felt him tremble on top of me, and there wasn't anything else in the world that I wanted to do more than to pull him into my grasp and hug him. There was so much I wanted to say, but this wasn't exactly the ideal time.

"Believe it love," I said, letting the words roll of my tongue. "You betray me, I betray you. Simple concept if you ask me," I snarled placing my feet under his ribs and throwing him off. That seemed to snap everyone from their trance, and the battle went back into full rage.

Demons were cackling all around us, every single one was teasing the angels about how I had left them for Lucifer. I laughed along with them while I stood up and faced Cas. I couldn't see where Michael or Anna went, but I was careful to watch my back. Michael can't have me dead if he wanted that final battle, but he wasn't going to risk me turning the tide towards the demons either.

"I understand you're upset," Cas said matter-of-factly. "But you could not have made this choice willingly. I know you Rachel, you would not have done this."

"You're wrong," I snarled launching myself at the angel and crossing blades with him. I could see it in his eyes- the hesitancy to attack back. I had to make him hate me, at least for now. If he was trying to save me, then I would have to worry about him on top of Sam. "My Father is offering me something more than you birds ever can."

"What's that?" Cas growled trying to overpower me.

"A chance to live," I shouted bringing up one of my legs and kicking the angel back. "You see my Father will not lie to me, he will not destroy me once I fulfill his purpose, he _loves_ me." I knew it was a low blow, but it was one that I had to do anyway. I saw the hurt cross his face, but I only smiled in response.

"Don't do this Rachel," he pleaded with me, his blade falling uselessly at his side. I found my heart being crushed; my own grace was crying out in pain at the very sight. I saw a flicker of pain cross Cas's face, and I remembered he still carried a part of me. "Come back. I love you."

I almost dropped my own blade and threw my plan out the window. More than anything I just wanted to leave with Cas and stay with him. I didn't want to be here any longer, not around my Father… but I had to save Sam. It was the only way to change how things were to be.

"Well I don't love you," I choked out making myself appear as angry as possible. I pushed myself forward and threw the first punch which connected with Cas's cheek. He spun from the force, but I kept up the assault. He stumbled down, and I gripped his hair while throwing up my knee. The next moment he was on his back staring up at the sky. I could hear Anna yelling at Cas to fight back, but he obviously wasn't listening. I tightened my grip on my blade before pressing it lightly into his chest, not enough to hurt, but it kept him on his back.

Before I could do anything else, I was thrown away by a massive fluctuation of grace. I nailed a tree and tried not to cry out from the force. I looked up to see Michael glaring down at me. I freed my other blade from my back and stood back up. I didn't even speak as I attacked the archangel. I swung with my right sword while spinning. I ducked under Michael's own blade. Based on its trajectory, Michael wasn't 100% trying to kill me, but he was looking to maim me for sure.

During this attack, I glanced around the battlefield to see most of the demons had fallen, but numerous angels were exhausted and hunched over. Broody was cackling between them all; he seemed to be very at home on the battlefield. This fight was coming to a close; we had lost more numbers… but demons were easily replaced.

"Rachel," Michael said as I fell to my knees and crossed my blades to block his attack. "Surrender and we can figure out how your Father has influenced you."

"He does not influence me!" I snarled actually letting go of my blades and rolling forward at the same time. I pulled a dagger from my boot and slammed it into Michael's side. I heard him grunt from the impact, but otherwise, he showed no pain. However, I felt a ton when his grace lashed out, and I was forcibly pressed into the dirt. It felt like a 100 people jumping on me. Each bone in my body cried out together. If I had been human, this would have killed me. I felt blood dripping from my lips as I was tossed into another tree. Michael hadn't moved an inch, but he pulled my dagger from his side.

"Enough of this," he snarled, and I could tell he was actually upset now. I felt a lash of grace coming at me again, but this time I was ready. Enough pretending to be human, I threw out my own grace. The force of the two combining threw Michael back a few inches. I stood and continued to push out with my grace. The archangel gave another push and it almost knocked me down, but I held fast. I felt my anger rising as Michael continued to try and force me down.

The blood was trickling between my lips, and I realized I didn't have much choice. While the angels were exhausted, Broody and I were about to be overpowered. I couldn't be captured- not now. I snarled and used Lucifer's grace to attack Michael as well. Suddenly I didn't feel like I was pressing against a solid brick wall; it was more like a mattress now. I lashed out again, and Michael had to take a step back. Again and again, I forced both of my grace sources to work together. I felt bristling with energy, and when I looked down, my skin was glowing.

"Rachel!" I heard Broody screaming at me.

With one final push, I felt a wave of my own grace go out in every direction. It knocked every angel off their feet, and I found my own knees buckling beneath me. I suddenly felt very exhausted, yet something was very wrong. I thought I had collapsed, but I was standing tall. I felt as though I was fading away, that I was locked into my own mind.

"Rachel!" Broody snapped again standing in front of me. "We need to go… _now!_" He was grabbing my arm, but the very touch of his skin made me sick. I almost lashed out at him too, but I suddenly felt very in control of my body again. I almost fell, but he caught me. "Now you faint." I could hear the annoyance in his voice, but he slung me over his shoulder. We left the battlefield as the angels moved to try get back up.

As we moved away, I could hear Cas was crying at me, but it was no longer out of love. It was angry. I looked back and I saw three angels not moving. They were obviously dead, and I had killed them. It had been an accident, but they were dead. More blood on my hands… more hot, wet blood… I found the world fading away.

My next coherent moment was me on the ground. The cold floor was beneath me, and I was staring up into the rafters of some building. A quick glance to the right told me I was back in the church. In that second, I realized I was being talked about. I stayed quiet and remained looking unconscious.

"I don't know how she did it," Broody was saying. "One moment I was sure we would be overpowered, but the next she was glowing and the birds were all thrown back."

My Father didn't seem to care. "How many did she kill?"

"The first one she killed was one of your agents," Broody said, and I tried not to grin at the thought of when I appeared to Michael and the others. The angel I had stabbed had been Lucy's, and I had known that when I killed him… the other three, on the other hand, and the one from yesterday… I tried not to think about. "There was no way she could have known he was your agent though. It was a well kept secret. The other three she killed when she started to glow."

"You have a lightning bug for a daughter," I could hear Crowley laughing.

"I did not know she had so much control of my grace," Lucifer said. "However, it seems to be detrimental to her."

"I tried to touch her right after it happened and her grace burned me," Broody continued. "If I didn't know better, I would have thought she was simply an angel not Nephilium."

"Interesting," Lucy was saying, and I could hear him stepping towards me. I felt his hand on my face; he must have knelt down. He was brushing the hair from my face; it was almost tender. "Be sure when she awakens, she has food and water. Her body will need nourishment to remind itself that it is human and not angel."

"Can she be an angel?" Alistair asked.

"Her body would not be able to handle it," Lucifer said, his hand still on my face. "It would destroy her human soul if it occurred, but yes it would be possible. These occurrences of her grace lashing out like this are proof. Given enough of a push, she could use my grace to become an angel."

"Well this might be a good time to get that grace back now," Crowley was laughing. "Or you let her keep it for a bit, and she continues on with these brilliant shows of keeping the angels back."

"Either way you decide, she's on our side Lucifer," Broody continued, changing the subject to which I was grateful for. "She nearly killed Castiel with that blast. I doubt she'd risk that angel's life if she wasn't serious about being with you."

I found myself flinching involuntary at the concept I could have killed Cas. Knowing my rouse of being unconscious was over, I groaned and turned my head. I started to act like I was just starting to wake up. It was then I realized that not only was I starved but every inch of me was on fire. Any movement caused pain.

"What happened?" I said but quickly discovered I was very hoarse. "Wow it hurts." I couldn't help but cough out a laugh.

"You my dear lovely daughter," Lucifer said with a grin, "did very well and you deserve a rest."

"I can't rest," I groaned pushing myself up. "I have work to do." I was mostly referring to Sam and finding him, but I wasn't going to tell him that.

"Crowley," Lucifer growled, "get her to a room and force her to eat if you must with that hellhound of yours."

"Come on girlie," Crowley said pulling me up. "Time to get you breakfast."

"I don't want breakfast," I complained as I was being dragged away from the main room, but as we left through a side door, I realized there was another door I had never seen before. It was hidden in a confessional booth. I needed to check that out.

"Then lunch," Crowley sighed. "Either way, you're eating."

When we were out of earshot of everyone, Crowley stopped me in the middle of the hallway. His hand was still on my bicep, and the grip was tightening. I could have forced him off, but my body was in too much pain. I felt as though I didn't have a grip on my body still.

"You're in a lot of mess," he said with a grin, but I was about to argue when he shushed me. "This is all about Sammy." I found myself at a loss of words, but I kept quiet. "Don't worry, I won't tell. Me and you are about to become fast friends."

**Chapter 11: **Crowley knows Rachel's secret, but he also knows Lucifer's plan. The war can hinge on a single decision… as can Rachel's very soul. It's time to decide who she can trust…

**OOC:** Two chapters in one day. Rejoice.


	12. B Deals and Tricks

**B Chapter 11**

"It's a good plan might I say," Crowley said with a grin. "You had me convince for a bit too that you really were here for Daddy." He was enjoying this so much. "Then I saw the look on your face last night after you killed that angel. On your knees?" He was shaking his head now. "You can't hide that kind of reaction. The human reaction to death."

"Shut up," I murmured not wanting to think of the hot blood splattered on my hands. "I am still human." I found my backbone and glared at the demon. If looks could kill… "Unlike you."

"Is that supposed to hurt?" he smiled cocking his head. "Look sweetheart."

I interrupted, "No you look handsome." I raised my hand and stroked his cheek before slapping him. "Go tell my Father what you want. I don't care. I have a job to do." I turned on my heel with the intention of walking away, but he snatched my elbow again. He pulled me taut against him and leaned down. His breath warmed my ear, and I felt vomit tickling the back of my throat.

"I'll help you find Sammy boy," he whispered, and I had no choice but to relax. I was still too weak to fight him off, and I couldn't help but be curious. "We both want the same thing."

I finally bit the bait. "And what's that?"

"Daddy gone," he said letting me go, so I could step back. "I assume you know his views on things like me."

I couldn't help but grin now. While it wasn't outwardly expressed, I knew very well what my Father actually felt for the scum of the Earth. He was still an angel after all; demons were just as disgusting to him. He never said it as he needed demons, and it wasn't like we could convince the demons that their creator wanted them dead just as much as humanity.

"I'm expendable if he wins," Crowley shrugged. "I like things simpler. Humans, demons, hunters… no birds."

"So what are you offering?" I asked.

"I'll help you get Sammy out of here, let you out of your deal if…" he trailed off.

"If what?" I knew there would be a catch. Demons always had one.

"There's something I require," he said nonchalant. "I'll let you know when we get to that point because at the moment, we really do have bigger issues."

"Like Lucy?"

"Exactly girlie," he nodded. "Do we have a deal?"

"Do I have a choice?" I sighed before knowing I really didn't have one. This was my one chance to save Sammy. "The thing you require?" I had to make sure it wasn't like a human sacrifice or anything like that.

"Don't worry," he grinned. "It's nothing you would miss. You'd probably appreciate me taking it off this planet."

"Fine deal," I growled, "but I'm not kissing you again." He laughed at that before giving me a mock bow.

"You still need to eat."

"And you still need to drop dead." I trudged forward listening to my stomach. It was basically screaming at me at this point. At least, the food I couldn't argue about; as long as it wasn't still alive, I was going to eat it. I just needed the distraction from the fact I was walking a very fine line when it came to allies. I didn't know much about this Crowley, but I could tell I needed to be very careful.

I sat quietly in the office of the church and nibbled on the meager rations in front of me. The demons didn't need to eat, so there wasn't a whole lot for me to choose from. Still, at least it wasn't alive. The entire time I ate, though, Crowley was watching me. I could see his hellhound out of the corner of my eye. I was happy that most couldn't see the vicious creatures; they would give me nightmares. I tried not to shudder at the thought that Dean was torn apart by a few.

"Do you know where he is?" I whispered, not looking up from my food.

"Who?" Crowley asked, and I growled at the demon. I wasn't in the mood for anymore games. "Fine before you tear out my throat, you should know there is a basement level in this church."

I had barely finished my next bite when I was running out the door. This time Crowley didn't even try to stop me. I remembered that door in the main room of the church, and I knew it had to go down. I wasn't even trying to be quiet as I pushed by a few demons, each tumbling out of the way. They snapped some obscenity at me, but I didn't care. It was only when I almost ran head first into my Father that I finally slowed and realized the stupidity of me running through the gothic church was.

"Where's the fire?" he asked, tilting his head. I could see the smirk hiding his frown. He was obviously suspicious of me stampeding through his home base.

"Where isn't it?" I replied with a smile. I was going to have to think of an excuse quickly if I wanted to get out of this.

"So where are you running?" he followed up.

I found myself pausing unsure of how to answer; there were a thousand excuses I could use, but I wasn't sure any of them would exactly pass. I decided not to answer, that was more in my character. I just shrugged and tried to appear as innocent as ever. I couldn't believe my stupidity that I might have just blown my cover running like an idiot.

"From is the better word brother," Broody said stepping up beside me. I felt his hand on my lower back. I stared at the guy wondering why he was standing up for me. "I was just telling her the Horsemen are reporting in, shocking enough." I felt a tremor run up my spine at the thought of Plague. I knew I wasn't lucky enough that he'd be dead from that blast. "I'm sure she's just trying to get out of sight. I'll escort her." I found myself being pushed away from my Father and into a confessional room. Once the door closed, Broody turned on me, and he had my face in a wall.

"Are you asking to be killed?" he snarled in my ear. "As much as I'd love to do it, you're making it too easy." I looked closely at the Fallen pushing my head into the wall; he was medium build, stocky but not much muscle, and dark brown hair. The eyes though… I could tell I had seen those eyes before.

I didn't say it aloud because I wasn't sure if I wanted it to be true… or for it to be far from false. It wasn't possible; the other angels had told me what happened. This just seemed…

"Gabriel?" I whispered, and I felt nails sink into my shoulder at the name. "They told me…"

"You have a traitor in your ranks," he growled, and I found it odd to think the last time I saw Gabriel, she… he had been in a female vessel.

"It was you," I growled. "You betrayed. You helped Lucifer go free."

"That's quite impossible seeing as I've been hiding on Earth since the first war," he growled in my ear. "It was strange, I admit seeing an angel claiming to be me."

"I met you in the past," I snapped. "I saw your grace. I know who's who. No way I've been tricked this long."

"The traitor has been there since the past," he growled. "Right when the first war started, I left and didn't look back. Someone on Lucy's side took my place."

"The Gabriel in the other world…"

"An imposter too," he said finally letting me go, and I looked at him.

"So what have you been doing if you're the real Gabriel?" I said not even breaking eye contact.

"My own personal witness protection program," he shrugged. "I've been duping as a trickster. Even my dear old brother doesn't know who I really am… but when you looked at me, I could tell you could see me for what I was." He looked pissed, but I couldn't exactly blame him. "I didn't want you ruining my identity but you're a Winchester…"

"I remember Dean talking about you," I said. "He said you killed him over 100 times."

Gabriel, this Gabriel, shrugged with a grin. "You Winchesters sacrifice for eachother too easily just like you're doing now."

"We sacrifice our lives for each other because we're family," I snapped. "You obviously don't understand that concept or you wouldn't be hiding yourself as Lucy's lap dog." I felt his hand curl around my throat. "How do I recognize you if I never have met you?"

"Me and your mom were good friends," he said as if suddenly lost in a memory. He let me go, his anger dissipating finally. "I promised her when you and your brother were born, I'd keep an eye on you on Earth… but when the angels started showing up, I backed off. I figured my brothers and sisters could handle it… then I saw my imposter." He paused in his story. "I wasn't sure how to proceed, so I set myself up in the best possible scenario I could think of."

"So whose side are you on?" I asked.

"My own," he shrugged. "My brothers will fight. Sammy will say yes, Dean will say yes, and you'll hand that grace back over to your Father."

"Over. My. Dead. Body," I said making each word final. "I refuse to be destiny's bitch."

"Play your part."

"This isn't a play," I growled. "This is humanity. These are lives, and I refuse to bend to my Father's will just because he thinks he's better than humans. You're pathetic." I shoved Gabriel away fully knowing this was an archangel. "You ran… I won't. I'm going to find Sam, and I'm getting him out of here." Gabriel moved forward to stop me but with a flick of my grace, I pushed him back into a wall. "And I'll find this traitor that was able to convince the entire garrison that the Gabriel that has been with us wasn't you."

**Chapter 12 Preview:** I decided to bring the original Gabriel back (Trickster) since he was literally one of my fave characters from season 5. This begets the questions though: who's this new traitor? And who was the one running with the Winchesters from Hidden Wings if it wasn't the real Gabriel? Too bad Rachel has too much to deal with already. She has to find Sammy first and hope this Gabriel doesn't rat her out nor Crowley.

**OOC:** Well this is actually fun to write this again. For those curious, the book (the real one) I wrote was called _Hidden Wings_ (amusing, I know) and it was about an angelic war (good vs. evil) but it is not related to supernatural in any way. Read and Review


	13. B Reunions

**B Chapter 12**

I knew there was a fine line of enemy and enemy of my enemy. I wasn't sure where this Gabriel landed on that spectrum. The Gabrielle I remembered was my trainer, my friend, and my betrayer. I wasn't even sure if the words out of this _trickster's_ mouth were to be believed for a moment; however, I knew that I was backed into a corner. Crowley knew of my lies, this thing knew of my lies. I had very little precious time left to try and drag Sam from this hell hole.

Thankfully, I was left alone to step from the confessional booth, but it was just one nightmare to another. The Four Horsemen stood in front of me… well mostly stood as Famine was looking as disgusting as ever in his wheelchair. I simply glared at Plague who was just grinning up a storm at the sight of me.

"Can I kill him Father?" I hissed not taking my eyes from the Horsemen. I found myself itching for my blades.

Lucifer didn't even answer me as I knew the answer. I wasn't a hunter, and the Horsemen were on 'our' side. They were off limits; I knew this… didn't mean I had to be quiet about my obvious views on them. Horsemen were worse than my Father. I turned on my heel and headed for the door I had seen earlier. With Lucifer distracted, this would be my best time to sneak in and out.

I ignored the conversations of the Horsemen as it mostly revolved around me. I didn't want to hear their voices even. Slowly and quietly, I trudged my way to the door near the alter, behind my Father. I waited until the Horsemen were fully distracted and I slipped in without making a sound.

The room was completely dark, but I was able to tell there was a flight of stairs which I followed down. The place was reminiscent of a dungeon, and I wondered why a church would have one. Still, I focused myself back on the task at hand and jumped down a few stairs at a time until I reached the bottom. Once there, I listened to the sounds of water dripping.

I was in a long hallway which I carefully stepped through. Without the ability of my sight in the dark, I had to be extra cautious. Who knew what was down here? Finally, I heard signs of life. Someone was screaming from an adjacent room. They didn't sound so much in pain as insanely… well, insane.

Not knowing what to expect, I drew my blade and headed towards the sound. I found a wrought iron door, and again my thoughts shifted to why this was here. Since I was no demon, I pushed open the door to find a single cage and a single light above it. In the cage was the origin of the noise.

It was Sammy. He was yelling and banging on the bars with a craze. I quickly shut the door realizing that it was probably blocking most if not all the noise. Once the door shut, he quieted almost immediately. I could see him staring at me, dingy and dirty. He looked fed at least.

"Sam," I whispered coming closer to the cage. "Sammy it's me, Rachel."

He pushed his arm through the gap in the bars and tried to touch me as I inched my way towards him. Just before I reached him though, he started to howl again. "You're lying! Demons lie!" He began to rant and mumble about demon blood and how I was simply an illusion come to torment him again. I felt crushed at the sight of Dean's brother and my cousin so destroyed.

It was obvious he was de-toxing. Probably a way to try and force him to say yes to Lucy. Tears sprung to my eyes as he continued to scream at me and claw at me through the bars. I wasn't sure if he could even be saved at this point. I feared for his mind.

I allowed him to grab me, and his hand wrapped around my throat. "Sam, it's really me," I whispered. "I came for you… Dean would have but the demons…" I tried to control the want to cry. It was threatening to spill over at any moment. "I'm here to get you out… take you home."

His grip tightened. "No, no, no!" He brought me right up to the bars. "I know what you are. _Christo_." I didn't react; I simply frowned. "Then you're a hallucination." He seemed ready to cry.

"No Sam," I said placing my hand over his around my throat. "I'm really here."

"Rachel," he whispered and I nodded. "No you can't be…"

I knew it was risky and might hurt me as I hadn't had much practice, but I focused my grace out onto Sam's hand and healed it of the abrasions. I was not very good at the 'heal me' stuff that some of the other angels seemed very keen on. "It's me Sammy, it's really me."

He suddenly let me go, and I almost lost my balance from the shock; however, I maintained standing. I rubbed my raw neck and smiled slightly at my cousin. He was only staring at me now, but I could see clarity now. I don't know if it was from the realization that it was me or perhaps my grace had another effect on him.

"How did you…" he finally was able to force out.

"Don't ask," I sighed waving my hand dismissively. I didn't want to explain that I had to betray a lot of people to get here. "Just know I'm here to get you out no matter what."

"You can't," he said shaking his head furiously. "Lucifer will know."

"Hence why I came and not Dean," I joked. "I can be obvious and not obvious at the same time."

"He has to know why you're here."

"Of course he has his suspicions," I shrugged. "But I'm a very good actress." I started to examine the cage. There wasn't a door. "So yeah, how do you open this thing?"

"I've only seen Lucifer open it," he admitted.

"Must be an angel thing then," I frowned touching the bars and attempting a bit of my grace on it. I was flung into a wall. I heard a crack and hissed at the sudden pain. "Yep, not doing that again."

"Rachel," Sam called out.

"I'm still here Sam," I groaned getting back to my feet and heading back to the cage and under the light.

"Stay in the light," he whispered to me, and that's when I realized I had been followed. Something was right outside my periphery hidden in the shadows. I wasn't sure what it was, but then again, I didn't want to know.

"Dad really booby trapped this room," I frowned.

"You should leave me," Sam whispered; I almost didn't hear him. "After what I did… I let him out of his cage." He laughed at the irony of his own statement. "And now he puts me in one. I deserve it."

"Shut up!" I growled. "People screw up. You know what they do when they mess up, they fix it!" I wasn't not going to deal with this moping shit. If he wanted to do that, he could wait until I got him back to Dean. "I just need to figure out how to open this cage."

"I told you only Lucifer does."

"Gee thank you for that update Sherlock," I growled. "I'm his daughter. Whatever he can do, I should be able to."

"Except Lucifer is an angel without his mojo," Sam pointed out. I tried to keep the glare off my face.

"Glass empty much?" I wasn't about to touch the bars again with my grace, but then I thought about using Lucifer's grace. However, I wasn't sure how intelligent that could be. For all I knew, that would alert my Father to where I shouldn't exactly be. It was risky to do it once, but twice? Especially with grace that wasn't my own…

I shook my head. "I don't know. I can't figure it out." I saw Sam's eyes sadden a bit, but he smiled.

"It's okay, you tried."

"I'm not done yet moron," I snapped. "I might just need some help."

"Help?"

"Again don't ask," I sighed not wanting to mention my deal with Crowley or this new Gabriel. I could ask either of them, but then again, I wasn't sure what their end agenda was. Crowley's was obviously more apparent, but I wasn't entirely thrilled with the idea of working with a demon again. "Look Sam, I'll be back."

"Don't go."

"Sam I have to," I frowned. "I can't open this. I need some sort of help. I'll be back I promise."

"They don't bother me so much when you're here," he whispered, and I gave him a questioning look. "The voices and the hallucinations. They torment me."

"You're off demon blood. For how long?"

"I'm going on my sixteenth hour."

I tried not to cringe. If it was this bad that quick, he was very addicted. That made me worried about breaking him out as he'd have to detox on the front lines. I wasn't entirely sure if that was a good idea in itself. "I'll see what I can do about getting you something for a short bit… but for now, I have to disappear okay?"

"You'll be back."

"I promise," I said running for the door, so whatever was in dark couldn't kill me easily. I ran through the door and into the hallway shutting my eyes. I could only hope it was a promise I could keep…

**Chapter 13 Preview: **Gabriel or Crowley… Neither seem like good allies, but it was time to walk that line. Rachel has very little time to get Sam out… too bad what she might have to lose might cost her more than she has.

**OOC: **R&R. This arc will probably end in another 2 chapters. Then it will move onto the third one.


	14. B Last Chance

**B Chapter 13**

This wasn't how I expected this plan to go; it was a long shot to start. However, I never expected for Crowley to tempt me with deals and for a Gabriel to appear. My life shouldn't have been this complicated, but I didn't exactly have much of a choice. Even now as I ran from the hellhounds, I couldn't see how I could have changed anything that led to this moment. I guess had I died in my parents' house… but I didn't.

I panted from the pain of pushing my body to run faster than the two hellhounds on my tail; I just prayed that I wouldn't trip and give the pups an early meal. My escape from Sam's room had gone smoothly until I had gotten up the stairs. Lucifer had been waiting for me, and it didn't take a genius to know he had just been waiting for me to go down there. He was even smiling when he saw me and stroked my cheek before telling Crowley to send the hounds after me.

I hadn't wasted any time getting out of there even if it meant leaving Sam behind for the moment. As I took off, I glanced back at Crowley to see his face twisted into a scowl; perhaps he was still on my side… if so, I hoped he would get Sam out for me… or even Gabriel. I didn't care who did it as long as someone did. If Lucy was looking at me, he wasn't looking at them.

I would have already taken to the air, but I wanted to give the hounds a good run first. I could still feel my Father's eyes on my back even as I left the church and the small town around it. Just as I was about to hit the woods, I took to the air with one strong stroke of my wings. I felt the air underneath them and I felt the breath of hounds on my heels as I took off. I wasn't sure where I'd fly, but not towards Dean.

I had to be sure Sam was out and good before I went to find my cousin… and I had to lose all the hounds on my tail which meant I was hoping Crowley was serious in that alliance. Hounds would have my scent until they were called off and only the crossroads demon could do that.

Finally once I could no longer hear the howls, I landed trying not to show the exertion it was to escape. I stretched my wings out and glanced around. I was in the middle of nowhere thankfully, so I doubted there were any demons to report me nor hellhounds close enough to hunt me down.

Tonight after the last bit of sun set, I would return to the church. Lucifer wouldn't move Sam just because I knew he was there; after all who would I tell? The angels were out for my blood, and I still believed my Father underestimated. If they weren't there, then I'd let the hellhounds have me and get myself dragged back to him in pieces if I had to.

"Far from your nest aren't you?" I heard a voice hiss from behind me. I tried not to groan at my luck. How angels found me without me doing anything…

I turned to see a small battalion that included Suriel, Cas, and Jophiel. The ten angels looked ready to murder me, and I wasn't in the mood for this right now… but it wasn't like I could explain it was all an elaborate ploy that failed because I wasn't careful enough.

I held up my hands trying to show I wasn't going to fight, but the moment one angel stepped towards me I drew my blades and blocked the attack. I spun underneath the blades and clashed with the next angel before kicking him away. Two more angels came up on me, and I did my best to fight them off. I stayed on the defensive simply blocking and pushing them away. I continued this dance until Cas, Anna, and Joph sent me flying with their combined grace. I nailed a tree and let out a 'oomph'.

I kept myself under control and didn't automatically lash back. I didn't want to hurt them if I didn't have to. Slowly, I got myself back to my feet and held my twin blades up. "Come on," I growled. "That can't be all you got." I knew I was asking for trouble, but I knew I wasn't getting myself out of this hole right now.

Anna stepped forward and moved to fight me when we all heard the growl from the woods. I knew I didn't have long before some hellhounds caught up with me, but they were faster than I thought. This day literally couldn't get any worse. I tried to decide the worst threat, but between pissed off birds and pissed off dogs with teeth, I couldn't decide.

Having no choice, I turned my body, so that I could defend myself from both threats. I moved just in time as a hound jumped at me. I ducked, and that's when the angels came back at me. They slashed and moved as a unit to subdue me. They were seemingly ignoring the dogs, but still fighting them off. They probably thought I called the mutts here.

I finally crossed blades with Cas, and I found myself unable to hide my frown. There wasn't that spark I was use to; even in what was going on, he wouldn't seem so distant with me. I tried to focus, but a hellhound nailed me in the back and I fell right into the angel. I tried not to cry out when I felt the nails run down my back.

"One moment please," I said to Cas who was staring up at me in a daze. I gave him a smile before closing my eyes and throwing out my grace in every direction. The entire area lit up for a moment. I jumped to my feet and focused on the hellhound that had been attacking me. I tossed my blades to the ground feeling fully energized.

"Come on you stupid dog," I snarled bending down as the animal circled me before rushing me. I felt the heat of the bite on my arm but I was able to wrap my other arm around its neck. This wasn't my most intelligent move, but I wasn't exactly thinking. I thrust my grace into the hound as it started to yowl. Moments later, it was gone… I wasn't sure I even sent it to Hell… I might have just killed it.

The other hound was busy attacking the angels, but it stopped with the death of the other. Then, it just stared at me, and I simply stared back. Before I could move, the hound took off into the woods. Since the danger passed, I found myself coming down from the high I was feeling by using so much of my grace. Suddenly, I felt more sleepy than anything else, and I wondered if it was due to me doing something similar to that hound that I had to Lilith all those months ago.

Rach had warned me not to do that, and I could see why now. My future self was an angel, but sometimes, I did it without thinking. It was a defense mechanism. Which reminded me of the angels still surrounding me.

I took one look at them, and they stared back before I took to the air. I knew what I had to do… I kept flying until I was sure the angels weren't going to follow then I turned directions and headed for a small little bar in the middle of nowhere.

Once I landed, I went into the middle of the crossroads. I hoped Crowley would come, and not some lackey. All I knew was that I was out of options, and I needed to get Sam out.

"Hello Princess," Crowley said with a smile.

"Whatever you want from me, it's yours," I said to the demon. "Just get Sam out of there."

"I need you to do one thing for me love," he said.

"Whatever it is, done," I said knowing I'd regret my words.

"Just need you to die… Don't worry, not permanently, but I need to test a theory about you creatures."

"I'll go to Hell."

"See I don't think you will. Only your brother came to Hell as a Nephilim, the rest of your kind has just disappeared…"

"Then where do I go?"

"That's what I need you to find out for me…" I didn't get a chance to even ask a question as Crowley took two steps up to me and shoved a blade into my stomach. I stared at him as I sunk down to the ground. "I'll bring you back very soon love."

As darkness clouded my vision, I heard someone shouting my name. I glanced over to see Anna and Cas standing there staring at me in horror as I fell onto my stomach. There were them… then nothing.

…**.**

I opened my eyes to find myself in a washed out setting in some forest. Crowley was no-where in sight, but I had a feeling he wouldn't be. Somehow I knew I was dead, and this was neither heaven nor hell. I glanced around as I started to hear growling. I could only hope Crowley was going to pull me back soon as this wasn't good.

**Interlude: **This is all Sammy.

**OOC: ** So Rachel is going to be gone for most of this next arc. I decided I liked the new season of supernatural and wanted to incorporate it. She'll be back very soon though, promise.


	15. Sam

**Interlude: Sam**

He paced the cage even though there wasn't exactly enough room to pace properly. Sam was worried about Rachel being down here; he never expected to see his cousin again. He only wished he was sure this was all a trap for her and Dean; it seemed plausible. The demons that came down to torment him were always teasing him that he was not only going to be Lucifer's bitch but bait as well.

He would have told his cousin this except demons' lie. He was praying it was all a lie as the last thing he wanted was for his cousin to be hurt. As it was, seeing her an hour ago, she wasn't looking good in his mind. There were circles deep and dark under her eyes, and Sam could tell she hadn't been eating properly. He wondered briefly about her child as it was obvious she wasn't pregnant anymore, but he hadn't gotten the chance to ask. He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know either; what if the kid had been killed? It would just be one more thing on his shoulders because he let the devil out of the cage!

"Hello Samuel," Lucifer said stepping into the room. All the shadow creatures cowered away, and Sam tried to keep his mind under control. He wasn't sure if this was just another hallucination or the actual devil. "Don't look so gloom. I let your cousin stay here. I let her come see you and talk to you. I could have killed her."

"You need her," Sam said trying to keep the rage from his face. "She has your grace."

"Little details," he shrugged stepping up to the bars. "I can take the grace from her dead or alive. In Hell, it will be very easy to persuade her to my ways fully. Hellhounds are chasing her down as we speak."

"My brother will stop you. She'll stop you," the Winchester countered trying to keep his voice level; in truth, he was afraid… of the things in the shadows, of what his mind kept tricking him to see, and of the thing in front of him. Never before had he wanted his brother to just bust in, and it had been a long time since he thought of his Father.

"It doesn't have to be like this Sammy," Lucifer smiled circling the cage. His eyes were running across Sam. Had anyone else been in the room, the tension would have been worth a shudder. "We don't have to be enemies. I can give you everything you want."

"My parents?"

"That's a bit out of my reach," he admitted. "However, I can give you revenge. Against all the demons that have put you through this, against every enemy, and even against the angels."

"Only Gabriel betrayed me," Sam growled keeping his composure. This wasn't the first time Lucifer would tease him with promises and 'gifts'.

"You don't know what I do," he sighed. "Your brother and your cousin are on the run from the angels as we speak. I will never lie to you. Your brother is Michael's true vessel, and the angels have kept Rachel alive so that I may retrieve my grace."

"They wouldn't do that," Sam snapped. "They're on our side. They've protected us."

"No Sam," Lucifer said getting right up to the cage. Had the angel wanted, he could have grabbed the Winchester. "They've protected you, so that they could have this war. They're tired of watching humans get everything from our Father and they get nothing." He stepped back and smiled. "Did you know that after the war with Michael, if say the angels win, this Earth becomes a paradise."

"Paradise?"

"For angels at least. Humans lose their free will." Lucifer cocked his head at his prisoner. "The angels have lied to you this entire time Sam. I want to help you get back at them and God who has allowed this all to happen. A good Father wouldn't have let this happen."

"You're the devil, you lie!" Sam growled, but he felt his will falter. He couldn't help but wonder if it was true about the angels.

"I don't lie Sammy," he smiled sadly. "Do you know what my crime was against my Father, the crime that started all this?"

The Winchester remained silent.

"I loved God too much," he said. "He told me to only love him and love him the most, and when he created you, he asked me to love them more… and I couldn't. I loved my Father just as you loved yours no matter what he did."

"Don't bring him up." The threat was barely concealed in the Winchester's voice, but it was there. Lucifer obviously knew he shouldn't push anymore, and he stopped there.

"Lucifer," a new voice called out from across the room. Sammy looked to the door to see the demon called Crowley; he didn't see him often, but when Sam did, he knew it wasn't good news.

"Is my daughter resting firmly in Hell?" the devil called back not taking his eyes off of Sam. "I want Alistair to head down there and get started. I want a general."

"So yeah," Crowley stuttered, and you could hear a pin drop in the room. "The angels got to her before my puppies could. They killed her."

"And..?"

"And she didn't got to Hell, she went someplace."

"So bring her back!" Lucifer snarled turning on the demon. "You owned her soul, she should have gone to hell, she should be under your jurisdiction to just bring back."

"I probably could except the angels also have her body…" Crowley trailed off, and the tension in the room grew ten-fold.

Sam was trying to keep calm. His cousin, his younger cousin was dead. He found himself falling back against the bars and sliding down. His head in his right hand as he tried to accept this. It was war, people died… but not her. Rachel was unstoppable; she wasn't even fully human. It didn't seem possible for her to have died especially by the angels.

"See Sam," Lucifer said composing himself, "they so easily killed your cousin. Just think what they will do to your brother when they're done with him." He strode towards the door and to the demon. "Come Crowley, it seems we might need to send a retrieval team for her body. I want her back on this plane, so we can send her to Hell."

The door shut with finality. For once, Sam wished for the hallucinations. He wanted the distraction, but of course, the one time he wanted them, he would not get that them. He wondered how long he had until the next fit hit him, but his thoughts were more concerned with the death of his cousin. Rachel was gone… it just didn't seem plausible.

"I'm sorry about your cousin," another voice called out from the darkness.

"Who's there?" Sam growled spinning around.

"Calm yourself tiger," Ruby said stepping into the light. She was still wearing the blonde, and she smiled at the Winchester.

"You're dead," he said shaking his head hoping that the hallucination would pass.

"That's what they want considering what I've done."

"You sold me out. You set me up!" he snapped throwing himself against the bars, and Ruby held her hands up innocently.

"I admit that's how it started," she said. "But that wasn't how it was at the end. I was going to tell you that day that Gabriel betrayed you… I was going to tell you all of it!"

"You're lying… demons lie," Sam said choked up a bit after everything that had happened. He fell back against the bars and slid down in defeat.

"Come on get up," Ruby sighed stepping up to the bars. She gave them a test yank and frowned when nothing happened. "We have to get you out of here."

"Why? I deserve to be in here for what I did… Better yet, Rachel tried and look where that got her."

"Jeesh mopey-pants a bit?" she sighed. "Sam," Ruby said breathless. She crouched down to be on his level. "I want to get you out of here. I'm sorry for everything I've done. You're not going to stop Lucifer in this think tank. You need your brother, and he's going to need you when he finds out about Rachel."

"Can she be brought back?" he whispered. "Lucifer seems to think she can be brought back."

"Death is on their side. With her body, it is very possible. Crowley could probably also do it with a deal. Human souls do boost a lot of powers." She pushed her hand through the bars. "I'm real Sam. I've been sent here to get you out while they deal with the whole Rachel got herself killed thing."

"Who sent you?" Sammy said, his head snapping up to look at Ruby, her inky eyes stared back.

"Another day," she smiled before sliding her other hand through the bars this time with a knife. Sam only glared, but he didn't make a move. She slid the knife across her wrist leaving a deep red trickling line. She offered her wrist, and he grimaced. "I get it, you've had time to think. But right now, we don't have time to think about it. We need to get you out of here."

Sam sighed and tried to resist, but the pain had been so intense from resisting the demon blood for so long. He couldn't help himself as he lunged forward and attached to her wrist. The power almost immediately flooded back into him, and he felt his body quake under the feeling.

"Break the bars, let's get out of here," Ruby said pulling her wrist back suddenly that left Sam craving for more already. He focused and found himself rusty, but with a push, the bars bent under his telekinesis until there was enough room for him to slip through. The moment he did, he wrapped his hand around Ruby's throat.

"Why shouldn't I just kill you?" he growled, blood still dripping from his lips.

"You and I both know you still need me," she whispered, but before another word could be said, Sam kissed her.

"Now how do we get out of this room?" he asked, but Ruby simply pointed to the door.

"Let's hope Lucifer is distracted waging war against the angels for Rachel's body," she said with a grin.

"Ruby," Sam muttered sprinting for the door trying to avoid the creatures in the shadows.

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

…

It hadn't been easy to sneak by tons of demons and a few fallen, but somehow, their escape had been covered. Sam just ran for the woods and never looked back. He wasn't entirely sure where he should go, but he knew he just had to keep going forward. Anywhere was better than back there.

Only once he was sure the church was out of sight and it would take even demons a few hours to try and track him, Sam slowed to a stop. Ruby was standing next to him with her arms crossed. She looked crossed with the hunter, but this wasn't the time for a lover's quarrel.

"Any idea where my brother is at?" Sam asked the demon trying to actually figure out where he was.

"No," Ruby responded. "He's been using a hex bag to hide himself from demons and angels recently. I figured you would know of a spot nearby that only you and Rachel would know about."

Sam fell deep into thought as he knew that Rachel and Dean would have a close meet up point just in case. There was one only he and Dean really knew about, and he was sure Rachel would eventually know about it.

"There's a barn nearby," Sam finally said, and when Ruby gave him a questioning look, he elaborated. "It's where Dean summoned Cas for the first time. I'm sure he would tell Rachel. Outside of me and him, only Bobby and Cas would know for sure."

"Smart place," Ruby remarked before walking with Sam in step. "I've missed you."

"Out of character for your kind," Sam said keeping his eyes ahead.

"Are we going to discuss what happened back there?"

"The kiss?"

"Yes Sam, the kiss."

"Not right now," he said, and it was final. He wanted to concentrate on finding his brother, and perhaps, getting Rachel back.

It was roughly an hour walk, but finally the barn came into sight. He took a deep breath, told Ruby to wait, and went inside. It was dark and littered with devil's traps. He didn't call out at first, just surveyed his surroundings. Then suddenly, Dean was right there in front of him with a sawed off shot gun. Their eyes met, but before either of them moved…

They both muttered, "Christo." With no response, the two ran at each other and hugged.

"Sammy," Dean said gripping his brother tight.

"Dean," Sam in turn was able to force out through the emotionally charged moment.

"Where's Rachel?" the older Winchester asked looking around when he finally broke free of the hug.

"We have a problem…" Sam said realizing that his brother didn't know yet.

"We have a lot of problems," Dean muttered back, and that was when Sam noticed a gun shot wound on his brother's shoulder. Before the younger brother could ask, Dean elaborated, "Hunters that hunt hunters… Hmmm good tongue twister."

"Dean," Sam said barely registering the hunter comment. "Rachel's dead…"

**R. Friendly Fire (Arc 3):** Dean and Sam are finally reunited but they are missing a soldier. Rachel is dead… The impossible… and to top it all off, the two brothers' find themselves in a deadly cat and mouse game with other hunters.

Rachel doesn't know where she's at; all she knows is pain and the will to keep fighting. She has to hope that the brothers find a way to save her or Crowley finally pulls her back from wherever she is… which would have been a simple deal had the angels not stolen her body.

What will the brothers do? Kill the other hunters, fight through the angels, and or help Crowley steal back their cousin's body so that she can rejoin the fight?

Oh crap, doesn't cover it. R&R

**OOC:** Alright, I want to apologize for this story up until now. It feels rushed to me, and I think that's because I've been trying to get the 'mojo' back after such a long break. I promise from here on out, I'll be working to get it better. I'm going to develop the story as I want, so apologies to any who thought that this was also feeling rushed. Working on fixing it (there's a chance I'll go back and rework the previous arc, but don't worry, I won't be adding anything new).


	16. R Game Plans

**R. Chapter 14**

I gripped my side tightly trying to staunch the blood flow; it trickled easily through my fingers though. All the running had reopened the wound, and I didn't exactly have time to just stop and take a breath. They were still right on my tail, but I felt my body shutting down. Everything hurt, and I could barely feel my muscles past the burn.

I glanced over my shoulder to see the shifters still chasing me. The creatures were working as a pack, and had it not been for the wendigo a few days prior, I could probably fight them all off… I tightened the hold on my wound. The pain flooded my body and gave me the necessary adrenaline to keep running.

Had my powers not been dented, this entire world wouldn't be so bad, but something was suppressing my grace… or someone. I hadn't exactly had time to stop moving since arriving in what I had overhead a few creatures mumble to be Purgatory. I just didn't understand why I hadn't been pulled back yet; I didn't explicably trust Crowley. However, my Father still needed his grace, so he would need me alive to give my approval, or at least on a plane, where he could find me.

I felt the claws dig into my back as I was tackled down. I tried to not to cry out as more pain ran up my spine. Against my teeth, I hissed and forced myself into a roll. Turning on the shifters, I pulled out my twin blades which thankfully were still with me somehow.

"Well come on puppies," I snarled. "If you want a meal, you'll have to work for it." I slashed at the first of five to rush me, and I silently prayed for the necessary help I was going to need sooner rather than later.

…

Dean and Sam sat next to each other in the barn still trying to process that their cousin was dead. They weren't saying much, just sitting next to each other. It would have been a happy reunion otherwise, but neither spoke hoping that Rachel would just come running through the door laughing at barely escaping again.

"What are we going to do?" Sam whispered finally. "We are already down in this war. Rachel being gone for now…"

"For now?" Dean said, his eyes snapping over to his brother. "You better not be thinking of saying yes to Lucifer to bring her back. She wouldn't want that Sammy."

"No Ruby…"

A pin could have dropped in the room at that point. It became deadly silent, and all of the muscles in Dean's neck were tensed. It didn't take a genius to realize he was quite angry. His fists were clenched by his sides, and it was taking everything in him, obviously, to not make a comment about the black eyed bitch.

"She saved me just as much as Rachel did," Sam admitted. "When Rachel died, she distracted Lucy… and Ruby used that time to get me out."

"I still don't like her," Dean eventually said.

"You wouldn't be my big brother if you did… Jerk."

Dean didn't respond, but he smiled over at his brother. "So Rachel can be brought back?"

"Death is on Lucifer's side. Ruby said the only thing prevented it from happening is the angels took her body," the younger Winchester explained.

"Sounds like a fun job," Dean said with a shrug, and Sammy just stared. "Steal her body back, kidnap Death. We've done worse." And with that, they both broke out laughing. It was good to have things seemingly normal even if it was the farthest from the truth. It was unsaid what Sam did, and Dean wasn't planning on bringing it up. The younger Winchester had probably been through enough as it was.

"We've done worse in better situations though," Sam admitted.

"No chick flick moments Sammy boy," Dean said jumping to his feet. "We have a job to do."

"And where should we start?" Sam asked pushing himself up ignoring the protest of his muscles.

"Well if Dean here doesn't send me back to Hell right away, I might be able to help with that," Ruby stated stepping into the barn. Dean tensed up again, but he didn't right away reach for his knife. "Good to see you're playing nice."

"See how long it lasts if you don't start talking," the older Winchester threatened.

"I might not know where the angels that took Rachel's body are," Ruby started, and threw up her hands when Dean drew the knife. "But I do know which angels currently have the body." She gave him a smile, but he didn't take his eyes off of her. "Castiel, Jophiel, and Barachiel currently have her body."

"Why didn't they burn it?" Sam asked. "Even they should have disintegrated it."

"They need her still," Dean admitted. "They want her to give up her grace to Lucifer so they can have their stupid war."

"And it's because of Crowley that they're having trouble reviving her currently," Ruby added in.

"So Lucifer wasn't lying about that," Sam muttered more to himself than anyone in the room, but the silence confirmed everything the devil had told him earlier. "An archangel is scary business though. We aren't exactly on even ground against him."

"When are we ever against the angels?" the older brother sighed. "We really need help but I don't think we can ask Bobby for this."

"Well no offense hun, I won't be much help," Ruby even admitted. "Me and the pigeons aren't exactly on even ground."

"Perhaps we can be of some assistance then," a new voice chimed in.

…

Cas sat on the bench, his hands folded in front of him, with his eyes shut. He was looking for revelations, he needed guidance. He knew he had screwed up. He knew he had not only betrayed the Winchesters, but the first human he felt something for that was beyond what he should. And that betrayal led to her death.

He looked across the room to see Rachel lying still on the altar. Had he not known she had a blade pushed through her chest, he would have simply thought she was picking the strangest place to nap… he couldn't help but smile as that sounded just like her.

The holy tax accountant just watched silently as Barry tried again to re-summon her to no avail. Wherever her soul was, it was in lock down. He still couldn't believe she was dead. Out of everyone to die, it seemed the most unreal. How many times had she thrown herself into danger and came out laughing with her two cousins?

Cas couldn't help but wonder if he had just told her the truth, told her why Anna had been protecting her, and told her the truth about Dean… would she still be alive? He wasn't entirely sure why she was still even dead; he had watched Crowley kill her, and he had seen her face. She seemed taken back in that one moment before her body and soul gave out. He would have loved to kill the demon for what he had done, but the moment he had realized the angels were there, Crowley had fled.

"Don't look so broken brother," Joph said taking a seat next to Cas. He kept his voice lowered to avoid bringing suspicion upon them. "They will bring her back."

"For their purposes," Cas couldn't help but whisper back. "I don't know what to do brother. I feel an obligation to protect the Winchesters…"

"Even from us?" Joph asked, and Cas only nodded. "I am not shocked. The Winchesters are hard to ignore… all of them." The younger cherub even looked over at Rachel's body. "Just be careful who you speak to now brother. The angels with this betrayal are looking for blood."

"Let them," Cas sighed. "For everything that has happened, I can't help but feel it's our fault. The Winchesters will wage war against us just as they wage war against the demons."

"They are but human."

"You and I both know the Winchesters," Cas chuckled. "They are but humans that have the power to bring about a change in the war." At that, they both looked to see Barry still failing to bring Rachel back from wherever she was.

…

I wiped the blood from my face and collapsed against the tree. The shifters lay dead across the entire field, and I knew it was only a short reprieve. I gave myself a once over looking at the new catalogue of injuries I was now sporting… thankfully nothing would require too much grace which was good. If there was anything I had discovered after being here for less than a day was that I was a beacon to everything here if I used any of my suppressed grace.

Once I had caught my breath, I forced myself back up and hobbled along to any place but here. The sun would be setting soon, and I knew more of those creatures came out at night. For the moment, I just wanted to find cover and hunker down until I had a more solid game plan. Crowley had yet to pull me back from this place which could mean I was looking at the long haul. I needed a good plan to keep myself together until I found a way out if there was one.

After a quarter mile, I had to slow down and relax again against a tree. I shut my eyes trying to focus a bit of my grace into my wound. I had to hopefully close it enough, so I wasn't bleeding out a trail, but I had to be careful to not light up like a flare gun either.

_"I'm sorry Father for the crimes I've commited." _I didn't know who that was, but I heard the faintest voice in the back of my mind._"I'm praying to you in hopes of guidance. I no longer know who I should follow, whom I belong to."_ Somehow I recognized that voice. It was Cas, and somehow, I had found a way to tap back into the angel network even here._"Please Father, bring her back… Take me in her stead… Just please bring her back… I have to make this right. I betrayed her, didn't tell her everything… this is my fault… Take my grace, take everything I am. I just beg of you Father, do not let her rot in Hell. I love her._"

I had to pull back from the network with the realization I was leaving my self too vulnerable. I felt tears running down my face though. He still loved me; even after everything I had done to him and him to me in turn, he still loved me. I mean, of course, he still did, but he never said it for fear of falling. And I couldn't exactly lie to myself either; more than anything I still loved him. Broken and beaten myself, I could never love anyone else more.

…

"Well that's a story," Sam said staring at this Gabriel with Crowley a few feet away. This was turning out to be the strangest alliance ever thought up. "You'd think your brethren would notice."

"I made sure they didn't," Gabriel shrugged. "You do have to admit it makes sense why you couldn't kill me now, right?"

"Now we know how," Dean growled not liking the Trickster any more with this tid bit of information; if anything, he wanted the Trickster more dead. Angels were falling down the 'shit list' real quick.

"Easy there," Gabriel said his hands up. "You want Rachel back, and I'll admit I was being a puss cake for hiding behind my brothers. Let's just come to an agreement."

"And what's that?" both brothers asked.

"We get you back Rachel, and you take my son of a bitch brother down," Gabriel said.

"Well unless you know a way that doesn't end in us being Stepford bitches."

"Actually I do," Gabriel grinned.

**Chapter 15: **The Winchesters think they have a plan made up to save Rachel, but what they don't know is that the hunters are now the hunted. Dean wasn't kidding when he said hunters are switching sides. One can only hope the Winchesters find a way to pull through this and find the strength to get their cousin back.

**OOC:** I'm so nice. Two chapters within a few days apart. I hope you liked this one; I put a bit romance of Cas and Rachel back in as I knew it was lacking… plus I found Cas to be a bit too unemotional for everything that's happened, so I thought a look into his mind would help to see he's not super cold… he's just not expressing everything. **R&R**


	17. R Benders

**R. Chapter 15**

Dean and Sam found themselves creeping along the treeline trying to decide the best way to approach the very open meadow. Sam wasn't going to point out how much help the demons or arch angel would have now been; Dean had been adamant about only them going towards Rachel's body. However, first, they had to get out of enemy territory, and Gabriel could have gotten them out quick… but the older Winchester pointed out that was like a beacon to other angels.

Still they had to be careful; the area was full of Benders. At first, Sam thought Dean was joking when he explained hunters turned against humans, but as the time went on, it started to sink in. Sam was shocked by how much he had missed while in Lucy's cage, but then again, he had known some of the most important news first- Rachel's death.

The two hunters moved in sync just as if no time had passed since they had last seen each other. Dean was in front while Sammy trailed in the back, and both had their eyes peeled for anything that was out of order. It wasn't just Benders that trailed the forest, Wendigos, black dogs… all of it could be watching them right now.

As it was Dean was trying to ignore all the hair on the nape of his neck that refused to lay down. He knew something was out there; he didn't need the added frustration of his brain telling him to flee like a bat out of hell. He had his gun filled with silver bullets up ready to shoot anything that came at him.

"Do you even know where you're going?" Sam couldn't help but ask.

"Yes," Dean answered barely looking back. "We're going…" He glanced around. "This way." And he continued the way he was going. "Gabriel and Crowley pointed us in this direction."

"Because it's not like they weren't Lucy's sidekicks only a few hours ago. They wouldn't trick us," Sam moaned.

"Do I like trusting either of them?" Dean replied checking around a tree. "No, I hate it. But I don't want to get you back to only lose Rachel. Which means…"

"We play ball," Sam sighed in agreement.

"Anyway, you can't complain if your still humping Ruby's leg," Dean pointed out, and had he looked back, he would have seen Sam's scowl. "We just have to get through this crappy field, and we'll find that angel proofed building Gabriel was talking about."

"You don't find it weird we're working with Gabriel?" Sam asked.

"Well apparently he's not the same Gabriel, or something or something," Dean shrugged out. He really didn't get it, but he wasn't about to complain about help… even if it was the Trickster. "I try not to question it."

"You probably shouldn't," Sam teased. "it'll probably just make your head hurt."

"Jerk."

"Bitch."

The two brothers fell into an easy silence again. They were ready to push through and find Rachel's body. It was good to them to be back in each other's presence, and for now, neither brought up the fact Sam basically brought this hell onto earth. That was a conversation for another time and another place when they weren't being hunted. Words needed to be said, and both brothers had a lot to overcome still, but at least they were together.

The sound of dead leaves crunching underneath the boot caused both brothers to crouch and glance around. Their eyes were hardened to look for anything out of the ordinary. The brothers heard the sound again, and this time they knew they were being followed. Dean nodded in one direction while pointing in another. He wanted to flank whoever was following them. Sam gave a short nod in understanding before quietly heading off in his direction.

Dean shut his eyes and took a deep breath before walking slowly in his own direction only once did he glance over his shoulder to watch his retreating brother. He didn't like this- being separated again after being away from eachother for so long… but they had to work smart if they wanted to make it out alive.

"Are you sure they went this way?" a voice groaned, and Dean glanced around to see a bulky man, standing roughly.

"I saw two men trekking through our terrain," another one said, his voice rough from smoking most likely. Dean could tell by the way these two held themselves, they were Benders. "You know any human we bring in alive to the demons gives us a good bounty."

"Yes but they have to be real," the first one pointed out obviously not believing the other when he said that he had seen the brothers.

This was when the line between hunting and survival blurred. Killing humans was wrong, killing demons was right… but when you had humans blatantly working for demons, the area that was once light and dark becomes gray. Not seeing much of a choice, though, Dean made a quick decision. He couldn't risk Sam being dragged back to Lucifer, and he had a job to do.

"Hey," Dean said with a cock-ass grin. He stepped from his hiding place and placed the gun level at the bulky one's head. "I'm quite real and have a quite real gun."

The second one laughed, "There's two of us, two guns, and just you. What can you do with small pistol?"

"Make that two of us," Sam said stepping out across from Dean, his gun leveled at the other one.

"Shit bro," the first one cried. "These are the Winchesters." Suddenly they went from intimidating to scared. It was obvious that the reputation of the brothers proceeded them.

"If these were the Winchesters, where's the bird girl?" the second one asked. "Isn't she usually on your tail feathers trying to fuck up to some angel?"

Dean found his finger tightening around the trigger, but he didn't shoot yet. "I wanna know if there are anymore of you."

"You're decent," the second one continued. "You won't…" Dean put a bullet in his head without thinking twice.

"So now you have a few moments to decide if you want to join your buddy or tell us what we need to know," Dean said, his face completely neutral. Sam looked uncomfortable, but he didn't waiver. He kept his gun pointed on the solitary Bender.

"If you kill me, you won't ever know," the guy pleaded throwing his gun to the ground.

"And we're also be down one more Bender," Dean pointed out.

"I suggest you tell us," Sam added on; he shook his head trying to calm himself. His body was starting to feel twitchy again. He was not use to having demon blood again, and the high he had been on was coming down. It was making it hard to concentrate.

The first guy smiled, "You're in our area boys… You won't get out of here alive." Dean dropped him like a bag of rocks. Sam stared at his brother.

"It's war Sammy. He wouldn't have hesitated to throw us to the demons," the older Winchester said with a sigh. He didn't really like this gray area; he'd like the old hunting days when things were black and white.

"I know," the younger Winchester said with a nod. "It's just… I've been out of it for too long."

"Like riding a bike Sammy," Dean grinned before frowning. "The hunting not killing people…" he clarified.

"So what's the plan?" Sam asked grabbing the two rifles the Benders had with them.

"Keep going, and hope we don't run into any more of these psychos."

"Too late for that brothers," a new voice cackled. The brothers whirled to see themselves surrounded by a group of ten Benders.

"Well," Sam started.

"Man this sucks," Dean finished with a frown before dropping his gun to the ground.

**Chapter 16**: the Brothers get up and personal with the Benders and finally confront the necessary demons of the past.


End file.
